Colin Campbell (Norris)

[Joanne]

I have thought about posting this thread for a couple of days because I think I'll probably stand alone in my thinking of this case. I think he is innocent and I think in the light of Harold Shipman and Beverly Allitt, the police were going to make the piece fit.
A few weeks ago I wrote to Colin and he wrote back, he now goes by the name Colin Campbell and uses Norris in relation to his case. When I saw his police interviews in the programmes I have seen, I can imagine myself saying the same to the police as he did and I don't think he is arrogant. I said I would try and help him (in my own tin pot manner), so I have sent him the names of some well known people-: Michael Mansfiedl, Michael Caplan to name a couple. Below is more on his case.

Colin Campbell Norris (12 February 1976, Glasgow) was a Scottish nurse and convicted serial killer from the Milton area in Glasgow who was convicted of murdering four elderly patients in a hospital in Leeds, England, in 2002. He was sentenced in 2008 to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison. Doubts have since been raised about his conviction by, among others, Prof Vincent Marks, a leading expert on insulin poisoning.
 
Crimes
Norris worked at Leeds General Infirmary and St James's Hospital. Suspicions were raised when Norris predicted the death of one patient, Ethel Halls, saying she would die at 5:15am. Her condition worsened badly that morning around 5am and she died some weeks later. He stated at the time: "it is always in the morning when things go wrong". When questioned by police about this and three other patients who had died while he was on duty, he said "he seemed to have been unlucky over the last 12 months". The four patients were 79, 80, 86 and 88 years old. The police investigated 72 cases in total.

 Trial
The trial took 19 weeks and the jury deliberated for 4 days. Norris was convicted by a majority verdict on 3 March 2008 of the murder of four women, and the attempted murder of a fifth aged 90. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, and ordered to serve a minimum term of 30 years in prison the following day. Judge Mr Justice Griffith rejected any possibility that Norris was practising euthanasia because none of the victims was terminally ill. He told Norris when sentencing:

"You are, I have absolutely no doubt, a thoroughly evil and dangerous man. You are an arrogant and manipulative man with a real dislike of elderly patients. The most telling evidence was that observation of one of your patients, Bridget Tarpey, who said 'he did not like us old women'."

Referred to in the British press as the "Angel of Death", Norris killed his victims by injecting them with high levels of insulin.

Jessie McTavish, a nurse convicted and then cleared in 1974 for the murder of an 80-year-old patient with insulin, has been identified as a possible inspiration for Norris. He once attended a lecture on her case while studying at nursing college.

 New concerns over conviction
On October 4, 2011, new concerns were raised about the safety of Norris's conviction. Prof Vincent Marks - a leading expert on insulin poisoning - said the jury at Norris's trial was led to believe by experts that a cluster of hypoglycaemic episodes, among people who were not diabetic, was sinister. The professor said international medical studies carried out in the years since the 35-year-old Glaswegian was convicted told a different story. "Looking at all the evidence, all I can say is I think Colin Norris's conviction is unsafe," Prof Marks said.

Prof Marks says the four patients picked out by the experts after Mrs Hall's death "were all at very high risk of developing spontaneous hypoglycaemia" because they had risk factors such as malnutrition, infection and multi-organ failure.

Legal observers have noted that if the medical evidence is discredited then the case against Norris collapses, there being little motive and no forensic evidence linking him to the crimes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqHdXPiXoWc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyG2A9p2DiA

[Tim Invictus]

I have thought about posting this thread for a couple of days because I think I'll probably stand alone in my thinking of this case. I think he is innocent and I think in the light of Harold Shipman and Beverly Allitt, the police were going to make the piece fit.
A few weeks ago I wrote to Colin and he wrote back, he now goes by the name Colin Campbell and uses Norris in relation to his case. When I saw his police interviews in the programmes I have seen, I can imagine myself saying the same to the police as he did and I don't think he is arrogant. I said I would try and help him (in my own tin pot manner), so I have sent him the names of some well known people-: Michael Mansfiedl, Michael Caplan to name a couple. Below is more on his case.

Colin Campbell Norris (12 February 1976, Glasgow) was a Scottish nurse and convicted serial killer from the Milton area in Glasgow who was convicted of murdering four elderly patients in a hospital in Leeds, England, in 2002. He was sentenced in 2008 to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison. Doubts have since been raised about his conviction by, among others, Prof Vincent Marks, a leading expert on insulin poisoning.
 
Crimes
Norris worked at Leeds General Infirmary and St James's Hospital. Suspicions were raised when Norris predicted the death of one patient, Ethel Halls, saying she would die at 5:15am. Her condition worsened badly that morning around 5am and she died some weeks later. He stated at the time: "it is always in the morning when things go wrong". When questioned by police about this and three other patients who had died while he was on duty, he said "he seemed to have been unlucky over the last 12 months". The four patients were 79, 80, 86 and 88 years old. The police investigated 72 cases in total.

 Trial
The trial took 19 weeks and the jury deliberated for 4 days. Norris was convicted by a majority verdict on 3 March 2008 of the murder of four women, and the attempted murder of a fifth aged 90. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, and ordered to serve a minimum term of 30 years in prison the following day. Judge Mr Justice Griffith rejected any possibility that Norris was practising euthanasia because none of the victims was terminally ill. He told Norris when sentencing:

"You are, I have absolutely no doubt, a thoroughly evil and dangerous man. You are an arrogant and manipulative man with a real dislike of elderly patients. The most telling evidence was that observation of one of your patients, Bridget Tarpey, who said 'he did not like us old women'."

Referred to in the British press as the "Angel of Death", Norris killed his victims by injecting them with high levels of insulin.

Jessie McTavish, a nurse convicted and then cleared in 1974 for the murder of an 80-year-old patient with insulin, has been identified as a possible inspiration for Norris. He once attended a lecture on her case while studying at nursing college.

 New concerns over conviction
On October 4, 2011, new concerns were raised about the safety of Norris's conviction. Prof Vincent Marks - a leading expert on insulin poisoning - said the jury at Norris's trial was led to believe by experts that a cluster of hypoglycaemic episodes, among people who were not diabetic, was sinister. The professor said international medical studies carried out in the years since the 35-year-old Glaswegian was convicted told a different story. "Looking at all the evidence, all I can say is I think Colin Norris's conviction is unsafe," Prof Marks said.

Prof Marks says the four patients picked out by the experts after Mrs Hall's death "were all at very high risk of developing spontaneous hypoglycaemia" because they had risk factors such as malnutrition, infection and multi-organ failure.

Legal observers have noted that if the medical evidence is discredited then the case against Norris collapses, there being little motive and no forensic evidence linking him to the crimes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqHdXPiXoWc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyG2A9p2DiA

Interesting Jo. I saw a documentary on this case and I must say that Colin Norris seemed totally arrogant and nasty and frankly as guilty as sin and a thoroughly nasty piece of work. Obviously the programme was from the point of view of Norris being guilty and it may even have been called Angel Of Death; it definitley wasn't questioning the case.

I will have a look at the youtube links but I doubt anything will change my view on Colin Norris.

[Joanne]

I absolutely thought the same and when he wrote back I was like 'Oh dear' but he is totally different, he's friendly and he's up for any help people can give him but on the other hand if I listen to him with my eyes shut, its like listening to myself if I was in that position and I wonder if because of how he's been portrayed it's putting people off from believing him and offering support.

[Tim Invictus]

I absolutely thought the same and when he wrote back I was like 'Oh dear' but he is totally different, he's friendly and he's up for any help people can give him but on the other hand if I listen to him with my eyes shut, its like listening to myself if I was in that position and I wonder if because of how he's been portrayed it's putting people off from believing him and offering support.

But what makes you think he might be innocent. He looked and sounded quite guilty to me ... is there something other than his protestations that suggest this maybe a MOJ case?

[Joanne]

Elderly people who have heart problems and blood pressure issues are prone to other illnesses linked to that and the tablets they're on and in conjunction with how the body clock works it's not uncommen for them to die in their sleep and bizarre levels of stuff in the blood to be found.
Hormone levels and metabloic rates change during the night too. I can't find a decent web page to explain it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Biological_clock_human.svg

[John]

An interesting case Joanne. The fact that he was present at five other incidents where patients died of hypoglycemia would seem to be very compelling however, I wonder how many other elderly patients with health problems also died of hypoglycemia and in circumstances where Colin Norris was never near them?

I have a particular interest in this case because my own mother died in hospital following an overdose of morphine.

[abs]

An interesting case Joanne. The fact that he was present at five other incidents where patients died of hypoglycemia would seem to be very compelling however, I wonder how many other elderly patients with health problems also died of hypoglycemia and in circumstances where Colin Norris was never near them?

I have a particular interest in this case because my own mother died in hospital following an overdose of morphine.

That is sad. Who gave it to her?
I know here in Denmark, terminal patients (typically cancer) are given control over the flow of morphine to ease the pain, and that of course leads to overdoses. I think that is actually a good thing, I don´t think people should suffer unnecessarily.

[John]

An interesting case Joanne. The fact that he was present at five other incidents where patients died of hypoglycemia would seem to be very compelling however, I wonder how many other elderly patients with health problems also died of hypoglycemia and in circumstances where Colin Norris was never near them?

I have a particular interest in this case because my own mother died in hospital following an overdose of morphine.

That is sad. Who gave it to her?
I know here in Denmark, terminal patients (typically cancer) are given control over the flow of morphine to ease the pain, and that of course leads to overdoses. I think that is actually a good thing, I don´t think people should suffer unnecessarily.

A staff nurse.  She only went in for a scan and died on the 3rd day completely unexpectedly.

[abs]

An interesting case Joanne. The fact that he was present at five other incidents where patients died of hypoglycemia would seem to be very compelling however, I wonder how many other elderly patients with health problems also died of hypoglycemia and in circumstances where Colin Norris was never near them?

I have a particular interest in this case because my own mother died in hospital following an overdose of morphine.

That is sad. Who gave it to her?
I know here in Denmark, terminal patients (typically cancer) are given control over the flow of morphine to ease the pain, and that of course leads to overdoses. I think that is actually a good thing, I don´t think people should suffer unnecessarily.

A staff nurse.  She only went in for a scan and died on the 3rd day completely unexpectedly.

Awful. It must have been a chock.

[Joanne]

When my Granddad was in hospital with pneumonia, they called us in because he was sying and they basically said he was toxic because he'd had so many anti-biotics and what did we want to happen? I don't want him to suffer anymore, they put him on a morphine drip and he died about 18 hour later.

[mrswah]

I have recently begun to take an interest in this case, and have watched all three documentaries on You Tube, as well as taking a brief look at Colin's "supporters' page"-------not a lot, I know, but I thought I would let the person who started the thread know that, a long time since the last response to her post, someone new is interested!

In reply to John, yes, there was another patient who died of the same symptoms, and whose family was originally told that their relative's death was a suspected murder.  When the police realised that Colin Norris was not on duty at the time of this lady's death, they decided that her death was NOT murder.  This is shown on the Panorama programme:  it is called "The Innocent Serial Killer", and is on You Tube. 

Two of the original jurors from Colin's trial now have doubts about his guilt.

It seems that science has moved on since 2008, and some experts are now saying that there is a condition called "Insulin Auto Immune Syndrome" which could explain Ethel Hall's high insulin count, and also, that hypoglycaemia in elderly frail patients with a number of conditions, is not that uncommon.

My own feeling is that the West Yorkshire police, having recently reinvestigated  Harold Shipman, to try and find out what crimes he may have committed as a younger man while working in their jurisdiction, and in order to learn lessons from that case, may have been over zealous in charging Colin Norris.   The detective does admit that the evidence they had was mostly circumstantial.

As for Colin being arrogant, aggressive, etc, I could not see that at all.  He sounded , to me, as if he was standing up for himself against police questioning, and I don't blame him. The police detective sounded far more arrogant to me.

One witness says that Colin 's remarks about Ethel Hall's death being near, etc were  somewhat insensitive, and she thought them suspicious, while another didn't think his remarks were any different from how all nurses talk sometimes.  Both  witnesses were his colleagues. 

[Miss Taken Identity]

I need to read more about this case. I am unsure.

  "Insulin Auto Immune Syndrome" is something which would not show such high readings of insulin. Death of elderly people during the night is not uncommon at all.

I think his behaviour in the poloce station could be read either way 1. he was angry and fustrated he was being 'fitted up' or angry and fustrated he was being found out. What is interesting is he is giving a 'if I did it I wouldn't have left a signature' account of his defence and blaming others.

Mistreatment and abuse of elderly,vulnerable patients is a lot more widespread than people think. whistleblowing is still frowned upon and can lead to job loss or death by suicide by those who want to stop this kind of behaviour.

[mrswah]

Do look into the case, Miss Taken Identity.  Some experts are now saying that the deaths might not have been murder at all.

Don't quite understand why you thought CN was blaming others. Anyone who says it wasn't them can be accused of implying that someone else did it.  In fact, nobody can deny they have done something without the suggestion being there that it was someone else.  If I deny that I put my dustbin out this morning,I am suggesting that my husband did!!!