Nurses who kill
Carers who kill
I’ve reported on this blog high profile cases of health care professionals suspected, then accused, and then convicted of killing those in their care. Doctors like Harold Shipman, and nurses Beverley Allitt and Lucy Letby, spring instantly to mind. Rare but particularly disturbing, because there’s something uniquely chilling and repugnant about people in the caring professions actually harming those who trust them implicitly – the vulnerable, the frail, the disabled, the elderly.
When I researched material to inform my novel Killing me Gently, which involves someone deliberately and systematically harming a baby, I found it very unsettling to glimpse inside a brain capable of doing such a thing, so alien to every instinct we all feel to protect and safeguard children. So I was curious to see STV were airing a series under the title Nurses who Kill.
But first I’d take issue with the title. Using the term ‘nurses’ is misleading. Only three of the ten killers are actually nurses. The rest are carers – both professional and informal; one is a paramedic. Not nurses. Their methods cover arson, vicious and sustained bludgeoning, using medical skills to kill rather than cure.
Each story is told through the lens of those most closely involved – relatives, acquaintances, detectives, policemen; and a range of experts – lawyers, criminologist, journalists, doctors, forensic psychologist, reporters, researchers, those appointed to safeguard the vulnerable. Giving a well rounded and fair account.
It’s perhaps not surprising that debt and theft feature strongly. Indeed money and greed lie at the root of most of the cases. A forensic psychologist who reviewed all the cases describes immature personalities, narcissism, egocentrism, contributing to their aberrant behaviours. Mercifully most are in no position to do any more harm, and we can only hope the families of the victims have found some consolation in that.
My advice: Choose your moment to view such depressing footage.