Beverley Allitt, born on October 4, 1968, earned the chilling nickname “Angel of Death” as one of Britain’s most infamous serial killer nurses.
Whilst working as a pediatric nurse at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital in Lincolnshire, England, in the early 1990s, she was found guilty of killing four children and attempting to murder three others. She also inflicted grievous bodily harm on six additional victims.
Her crimes horrified the nation, exposing dangerous flaws in hospital oversight and shattering public trust in healthcare workers. The case remains a grim reminder of how authority can be weaponized in the most vulnerable settings.
NAME: Beverley Gail Allitt
ALIAS: Angel of Death
DOB: October 4, 1968
COUNTRY: Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, UK
VICTIMS: 4
ARREST: 1991
SENTENCE: 13 life sentences – minimum of 28 years & 175 days – May 23, 1993
PRISON: Rampton Secure Hospital, Nottinghamshire
WHERE IS Beverley Allitt NOW?
- 13 life sentences with the minimum sentence of 28 years & 175 days – May 23, 1993
Beverley Allitt remains incarcerated at the Rampton Secure Hospital (a high-security psychiatric facility) in Nottinghamshire, England. Where she has been housed since her prosecution in May 1993.
May 2001 – Got Married: In a controversial ceremony at Rampton Hospital’s St. Francis Chapel, Beverley Allitt reportedly married fellow patient (and convicted killer) Mark Heggie. The high-security psychiatric facility—home to some of Britain’s most dangerous criminals—declined to discuss the union, though a spokesperson acknowledged, “‘Relationships do develop. In fact, they are good for patients because it is part of their ‘normalisation’,’ [4]
October 2023: Beverley Allitt underwent a mental health assessment in an attempt to secure a transfer from her psychiatric facility to a standard prison—a move that would make her eligible to apply for parole.
December 2023: Authorities reportedly denied her December 2023 transfer request from her psychiatric facility to a standard prison. She won’t be eligible for another assessment until 2026 at the earliest. [2]
- May 22, 2001: Reportedly got married in psychiatric facility [4]
- Nov 14, 2021: Eligible for parole [3]
- Oct 23, 2023: Underwent mental health assessment in attempt to secure transfer from psychiatric facility
- Dec 8, 2023: Denied transfer to regular prison [2]
CRIMES COMMITTED
During her 1991 employment on a pediatric ward, Beverley Allitt committed unspeakable acts against the most vulnerable of victims—infants and young children entrusted to her care. The serial killer nurse deliberately administered lethal overdoses of insulin and other medications, murdering four children and leaving several others with life-altering injuries.
Each calculated act was a grotesque abuse of medical knowledge: four innocent lives stolen through meticulously planned overdoses, multiple surviving victims left permanently disabled by her attacks, families doubly traumatized—first by medical crises, then by the chilling realization their trusted caregiver was the perpetrator.
The ward, meant to be a place of healing, became a hunting ground where Allitt exploited her position to inflict suffering. Her crimes represented not just murder, but a fundamental violation of the sacred bond between medical professionals and those they swear to protect.
Beverley Allitt Victims:
Liam Taylor – February 21, 1991
On February 21, 1991, 7-month-old Liam Taylor was admitted to Grantham Hospital’s pediatric ward with a routine chest infection. Allitt, seizing her opportunity, personally assured his exhausted parents he was in safe hands, convincing them to go home and rest. When they returned, she calmly reported their son had suffered—and recovered from—a sudden respiratory crisis. Playing the devoted nurse, she even volunteered for extra night shifts to “watch over him.”
That night, under Allitt’s sole care, Liam’s condition mysteriously deteriorated. Witnesses described him turning deathly pale, then developing strange red blotches—yet the ward’s alarm monitors never sounded when he stopped breathing. By the time a crash team arrived, Liam had suffered irreversible brain damage. His devastated parents later made the unbearable decision to remove life support.
Timothy Hardwick – March 5, 1991
Just two weeks after Liam Taylor’s death, Allitt struck again – this time targeting 11-year-old Timothy Hardwick, a vulnerable boy with cerebral palsy admitted on March 5, 1991 following an epileptic seizure. The circumstances bore disturbing similarities to her first murder. After isolating the vulnerable child during her shift, Allitt suddenly called for emergency help when she was alone with him, with responders finding Timothy pulseless and cyanotic. Despite intensive resuscitation efforts by a pediatric specialist and medical team, they couldn’t revive him. The subsequent autopsy proved inconclusive, with doctors wrongly attributing his suspicious death to epilepsy complications—another institutional failure that allowed Allitt’s killing spree to continue unchecked.
Kayley Desmond (survived) – March 8, 1991
On March 3, 1991, one-year-old Kayley Desmond was hospitalized with a chest infection and showed promising signs of recovery—until March 8, when she suffered sudden cardiac arrest in the same hospital bed where Liam Taylor had died just weeks earlier. While resuscitation efforts succeeded, Kayley’s transfer to Nottingham Hospital revealed chilling evidence: physicians discovered a mysterious puncture wound under her armpit and an air bubble nearby, suggesting an unauthorized injection. Despite these suspicious findings, no formal investigation was launched, allowing Allitt to continue her killing spree unchecked.
Paul Crampton (survived) – March 20 1991
Five-month-old Paul Crampton was admitted on March 20, 1991 with a mild bronchial infection, ready for discharge until Allitt intervened. While alone with the infant, she triggered three near-fatal insulin shock episodes—each plunging him into a coma-like state. Doctors repeatedly revived Paul but were baffled by his erratic insulin levels. During his emergency transfer to Nottingham Hospital, Allitt suspiciously accompanied him in the ambulance, where tests again revealed dangerous insulin spikes. Against all odds, Paul survived—becoming one of the few to escape the “Angel of Death’s” lethal care with his life.
Bradley Gibson (survived) – March 21, 1991
The very next day, five-year-old pneumonia patient Bradley Gibson suffered a sudden, inexplicable cardiac arrest—only to be miraculously revived by medical staff. Bloodwork revealed alarmingly high insulin levels that baffled doctors, as Bradley had no diabetic history. Shockingly, when Allitt attended to him later that night, he suffered another cardiac crisis and required emergency transfer to Nottingham Hospital, where he eventually recovered. These back-to-back medical emergencies—all occurring under Allitt’s watch—should have raised red flags. Yet despite this disturbing pattern of healthy children deteriorating in her care, hospital staff failed to connect the dots, allowing Britain’s most dangerous nurse to continue her murderous rampage unchecked.
Yik Hung Chan (survived) – March 22, 1991
On March 22, 1991, two-year-old Yik Hung Chan suddenly turned cyanotic and showed signs of acute distress under Allitt’s care—an emergency she herself reported. While initial oxygen treatment stabilized him, he suffered another mysterious collapse requiring transfer to Nottingham Hospital. Despite his alarming symptoms mirroring other suspicious cases, doctors hastily attributed his condition to a skull fracture from a prior fall—a convenient explanation that ignored the disturbing pattern emerging around Nurse Allitt. Like several children before him, Yik Hung survived, but the true cause of his medical crises would only become clear when Allitt’s killing spree was finally exposed.
Katie (survived) and Becky Phillips – April 1, 1991
Allitt’s predatory focus shifted to vulnerable two-month-old twins Katie and Becky Phillips, hospitalized after their premature birth. When Becky was admitted on April 1, 1991 for gastroenteritis, Allitt assumed her care. Within two days, she falsely reported hypoglycemic symptoms in the healthy infant, who was discharged only to suffer fatal convulsions at home that night. Despite the parents’ desperate efforts and a doctor dismissing it as colic, Becky died mysteriously in their arms—an autopsy revealing no natural cause.
In a cruel twist, surviving twin Katie was readmitted for monitoring, falling directly into Allitt’s hands. The nurse soon “discovered” Katie not breathing, orchestrating multiple crises that left the infant with broken ribs from violent resuscitation attempts and permanent brain damage from oxygen deprivation. While Katie miraculously survived transfer to Nottingham, her injuries exposed the horrifying truth—these weren’t medical emergencies, but calculated attacks on defenseless babies. The twins’ case became the turning point that finally exposed Allitt’s year-long reign of terror in the pediatric ward.
In a devastating irony, Sue Phillips—unaware that Allitt had nearly killed her daughter—begged the nurse to become Katie’s godmother, profoundly grateful for “saving” the baby from repeated crises. Allitt coldly accepted this honor, knowing full well she had personally inflicted Katie’s catastrophic injuries: the cerebral palsy, partial paralysis, and sensory impairments that would haunt the child for life. This grotesque charade marked one of history’s most disturbing examples of a predator being embraced as a savior—until the horrifying truth finally emerged.
Claire Peck – April 22, 1991
The killing spree finally ended with 15-month-old Claire Peck’s murder on April 22, 1991. The asthmatic toddler—who only needed routine breathing tube care—suffered two sudden cardiac arrests during brief periods alone with Allitt. Though revived after the first attack, Claire succumbed to the second.
Initially dismissed as natural causes, consultant Dr. Nelson Porter refused to accept the explanation, disturbed by the ward’s alarming spike in cardiac emergencies. While an airborne virus was first suspected, toxicology tests 18 days later revealed the truth: lethal potassium levels and traces of Lignocaine—a cardiac drug never administered to infants. Claire’s exhumation confirmed the unthinkable: murder by the very nurse entrusted with her care.
CAPTURE & INVESTIGATION
The case unraveled when hospital staff alerted police to an alarming pattern: a sudden spike in cardiac arrests on the children’s ward, all occurring during Allitt’s shifts. The victims—admitted for routine illnesses like chest infections—would inexplicably deteriorate, with four children dying without medical cause.
The breakthrough came when Detective Superintendent Stuart Clifton tested five-month-old Paul Crampton’s blood after his third near-fatal collapse. The results were shocking: Paul had the second-highest insulin level ever recorded in a medical case at that time.
Through painstaking analysis of medical records, shift logs, and toxicology reports, investigators pieced together an undeniable truth: each overdose coincided perfectly with Allitt’s presence. The evidence painted a damning portrait of a nurse who didn’t just witness emergencies, but created them. This meticulous medical detective work culminated in Allitt’s arrest, sparking a landmark investigation that would expose one of Britain’s most shocking cases of medical betrayal.
While forensic evidence confirmed Allitt used insulin poisoning on at least two children and air embolism on another, the exact methods behind all 13 attacks remained unclear—a haunting reminder of her calculated brutality.
By July 26, 1991, police had gathered enough evidence to implicate Allitt in the murders, though formal charges wouldn’t come until November that year. During interrogations, Allitt remained eerily composed, steadfastly denying any wrongdoing and maintaining she had only provided proper care to her victims.
The case against her grew stronger when a search of her home uncovered missing sections of nursing logs—a clear attempt to conceal evidence. As detectives delved deeper into her background, a disturbing psychological profile emerged: Allitt displayed traits of both Munchausen syndrome and Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare and dangerous combination.
This dual diagnosis explained her twisted motivation—seeking validation by orchestrating medical crises, then playing the devoted nurse. Yet despite the overwhelming evidence, Allitt never cracked, maintaining her chilling facade of innocence until the very end.
TRIAL & CONVICTIONS
Beverley Allitt’s 1993 trial captivated Britain, becoming one of the most harrowing criminal proceedings in UK history. Prosecutors methodically dismantled her facade of innocence, presenting: damning forensic proof of insulin and potassium tampering, disturbing shift records showing her presence during every crisis, medical testimony confirming the impossibility of “natural causes”.
From adolescence, Allitt exhibited textbook signs of Munchausen syndrome, fabricating illnesses to garner attention. When self-harm no longer sufficed, she escalated to harming her most vulnerable patients—a chilling transition to Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Even after her arrest, she maintained her manipulative tendencies: persistent denials despite overwhelming evidence, dramatic weight loss (70 lbs) delaying proceedings, convenient “illnesses” causing 44 missed trial days.
The proceedings exposed her cruel methodology – calculating doses to induce suffering, then playing the hero during resuscitations. Justice Cresswell’s life sentence carried an unprecedented recommendation: never to be released – a judicial first reflecting the case’s unique depravity. More than a murder trial, it became a reckoning for healthcare trust itself, with victim impact statements laying bare the irreversible damage to: grieving families who lost children, survivors left with permanent disabilities, an entire profession’s reputation..
The Nottingham Crown Court trial (February 15, 1993) methodically exposed her crimes:
- Elevated insulin/potassium in all victims
- Attacks ONLY occurred during her shifts
- Prof. Roy Meadow confirmed her untreatable psychopathy
On May 23, 1993, justice was served: Allitt received 13 life sentences (a UK record for a woman) for murdering four children, attempting to murder three children, and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to a further six.
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REFERENCES / CITATIONS:
[1] Mirror: Child killer Beverley Allitt’s life in jail – ‘vampire’ husband, sepsis and £10,000 windfall – October 8, 2023
[2] Daily mail: ‘Angel of Death’ Beverley Allitt who murdered four children and injured three others has jail move blocked – crushing her bid for freedom – December 8, 2023
[3] Casemine: Allitt, Re | [2007] EWHC 2845 (QB) | England and Wales High Court (Queen’s Bench Division) – December 2007
[4] Irish Examiner: Child killer ‘to marry vampire-attack boyfriend’ – May 22, 2001
BOOKS ABOUT Beverley Allitt
Angel of Death: Killer Nurse Beverly Allitt
It made national headlines: the true story of how state enrolled nurse Beverley Allitt murdered four children on her ward and attempted to take the lives of many others…
TV SHOWS & DOCS FEATURING Beverley Allitt
Nurses Who Kill – S1.E1 – Beverley Allitt
The series begins by examining the case of Allitt, a nurse on the children’s ward of a hospital in Lincolnshire. She poisoned a string of young patients under her care over the course of 59 days in 1991, murdering four.
TV Series / Documentary | 2016
Britain’s Most Evil Killers – S1.E12 – Beverley Allitt
Beverley Allitt: Nurse Beverley Allitt poisoned 13 children under her care, killing four of them, earning her the nickname “The Angel of Death” from the British media.
TV Series / Documentary | 2017
Born to kill? S4.E1 – Beverley Allitt: The Angel of Death
Former colleagues, relatives of victims, and police share their thoughts and reminiscences of the nurse who came to be known as the “Angel of Death”.
TV Series / Documentary | 2011
Crimes That Shook Britain – S1.E4 – Beverley Allitt
Beverley Allitt was thought to be a ‘model’ nurse. Very astute, caring and always willing to help. So why did she murdered four children and attempted to kill 11 others?
TV Series / Documentary | 2008
Murder by Medic – S1.E7 – Beverley Allitt
From February to April 1991, Beverley Allitt’s reign of terror at Grantham Hospital led to the deaths of four children and serious harm to many others. Her background revealed troubling signs of Munchausen’s syndrome.
TV Series / Documentary | 2024
PRIME VIDEO
MORE ARTICLES ABOUT Beverley Allitt
A selection of interesting articles about Beverley Allitt, sourced and curated from around the web:
‘Angel of Death’ Beverley Allitt who murdered four children and injured three others has jail move blocked – crushing her bid for freedom
Daily Mail | Author: Oliver Price | December 8, 2023
Child killer Beverley Allitt’s life in jail – ‘vampire’ husband, sepsis and £10,000 windfall
Daily Mirror | Author: Jackie Annett | October 8, 2023
Beverley Allitt, also known as the “Angel of Death,” is one of Britain’s most notorious female serial killers
Biography | Author: Editors | October 3, 2023
Serial killer nurse Allitt must serve 30 years
The Guardian | Author: David Batty | December 6, 2007
