Victim's Family Seeks Retrial for Nurse Convicted of Murders Amid Doubts

The family of an elderly murder victim are calling for a retrial of the Scots nurse convicted of killing her and three others on a hospital ward. Suspicion fell on Colin Norris, a 26-year-old nurse from Glasgow, after patient Ethel Hall fell into a hypoglycemic coma while she was recovering from a broken hip in 2002. He was convicted six years later of killing the 86-year-old in Leeds General Infirmary by injecting her with insulin and using the same method to kill three other patients and attempting to kill two more.

The serial killer has lost two appeals, but a new BBC Disclosure podcast reveals that members of Ms. Hall’s family have growing doubts about his guilt. The case has gained traction due to the ongoing debate surrounding the guilt of neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, who was convicted of killing seven babies and attempting to kill seven more in a Chester hospital 10 years ago.

In the podcast, family spokeswoman Helen Hall stated that legal moves have failed to provide the closure they had hoped for. "If he's guilty, then fine, that's it. But if he's not guilty and he hasn’t done it, the evidence that they’re trying to keep him inside for is not enough," she said, adding that the family believes a retrial is the only way to achieve peace of mind. "I’m not saying that he should walk free, I’m not saying he should stay behind bars – he should have a fair trial,” she added.

The condition known as hypoglycemia, where blood sugar levels fall dangerously low, lies at the heart of Norris’s appeal and the medical evidence that convicted him. Ms. Hall died after falling into a hypoglycemic coma, a condition considered rare at the time of her death.

Norris became a suspect after a colleague reported that he had predicted the pensioner would not survive the night. A subsequent police investigation reviewed all deaths on wards where Norris had worked, identifying three other unexplained hypoglycemic deaths and one case where the patient recovered. Norris, who is now known as Colin Campbell, lost his first appeal within a few years of his conviction.

According to the BBC, new scientific evidence emerged two years later suggesting that hypoglycemia in the frail and elderly is not as rare as previously believed, potentially misinforming the jury. This evidence was submitted for a second appeal, which was heard last year. Crown lawyers successfully argued that the patients’ deaths could only be explained by deliberate insulin poisoning.

The BBC podcast also suggests that a strong opioid prescribed to Ethel Hall for post-operative pain might have induced a coma, and insulin intended for another patient could have been administered accidentally before a blood sample proving poisoning was taken. Campbell’s mother, June Campbell, expressed her continued commitment to seeking justice for her son, stating, "If you're a mum, you know. You'll fight for your kids till the very end."