Killer nurse sentenced to 35 years' jail
The verdict has been delivered on one of Greater Manchester Police's most massive investigation.
A few million pounds and three and a half years later, since Filipino Victorino Chua killed two of his patients and poisoned 20 others in 2011, he has been sentenced to at least 35 years in prison.
Metro and Daily Mail reported that some of Chua's victims' loved ones sobbed as they had to relive the crimes the former nurse had committed when he was working in two wards in Stepping Hill Hospital as they were recounted in the courtroom.
Chua (pictured below) had poisoned his patients' saline bags with insulin.
PHOTO: REUTERS
As an overdose of insulin starves the brain of oxygen, his heinous act had killed Ms Tracy Arden, 44, and Mr Alfred Weaver, 83, and left Mr Grant Misell, 41, with left brain damage.
Chua reportedly maintained an impassive face during the trial and even when he was told that he would have to serve a minimum of 35 years before being eligible for parole.
Justice Openshaw told the court at the conclusion of the four-month trial: "He (Chua) has committed a dreadful crime and he must now pay the price."
In all, Chua was convicted of two murders, 22 counts of attempted grievous bodily harm, one count of grievous bodily harm, seven attempts of administering poison and one count of administering poison.
Justice Openshaw added: "What he did was inexplicable and irrational.
"It is a striking, sinister and truly wicked feature of the case, he did not personally administer contaminated products directly to most of these patients but having left saline bags contaminated with insulin he did not know which nurse would unwittingly collect them and still less to which patient the nurse would then unwittingly administer the poison.
"It is as if he left it to fate to decide who would be the victim."
Senior coroner John Pollard said that he is planning inquests into 11 more deaths at Stepping Hill Hospital that were suspicious.
There are grounds to believe that the patients died after being poisoned by Chua.
Source: Metro, Daily Mail
Related reports: Killer Nurse says: I'm evil. I'm going straight to hell.
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