Nurse allegedly poisons 21 patients, killing 3

A hospital nurse in Manchester, United Kingdom has been charged with murder after it was revealed that he killed three patients and poisoned 18 others by contaminating saline bags and ampoules with insulin.

49-year-old Victorino Chua was also said to have deliberately altered the dosages on prescription charts while working as a staff nurse at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport.

The court learnt that 21 patients suffered as a result of his wicked act with three of them, 44-year-old Tracey Arden, 71-year-old Arnold Lancaster and 83-year-old Derek Weaver eventually dying.

Victorino Chua is a Filipino who first came to the UK in 2002 and had worked at Stepping Hill since 2009. He pleaded not guilty to 36 charges in all, including the three alleged murders, one count of grievous bodily harm with intent, 23 counts of attempted grievous bodily harm, eight counts of attempting to cause a poison to be administered and one count of administering a poison. The alleged offences were carried out between June 2011 and January 2012.

The prosecutor, Peter Wright QC said a “pattern” began to emerge which led to the identification of the killer after a massive police investigation.

"The pieces of the forensic jigsaw began to emerge. The person responsible for each of these matters became increasingly clear. It was, we say, Victorino Chua. As the investigation intensified, the common denominator, the defendant, was shown in sharper and sharper relief. Motive for this course of conduct, whomsoever is responsible, is difficult to determine with precision. Only the person responsible could ever know why they would embark on such conduct," Wright told the jury.

The trial continues.