Before Lucy Letby, There Was Beverley Allitt—Britain's First Killer Nurse

Lucy Letby is now synonymous with one of the darkest chapters in British medical history. In the summer of 2015, as unexplained collapses and deaths mounted in a neonatal unit in northwest England, few could have imagined that a nurse trusted with the most vulnerable lives would later be named as the killer.

Yet the case of Lucy Letby would ultimately force the country to confront an uncomfortable truth: this was not the first time such crimes had happened.

Despite its scale and modern notoriety, the Letby case echoes an earlier scandal that shook Britain decades before. Long before podcasts, Netflix documentaries, and public inquiries, another nurse moved quietly through a children's ward, leaving devastation in her wake. Her name was Beverley Allitt, and her crimes at a small Lincolnshire hospital in the early 1990s set a grim precedent.

The parallels are unsettling, but the story of Allitt has largely faded from public memory. Revisiting it now offers crucial context for understanding how institutional blind spots, misplaced trust, and delayed action can allow the unthinkable to happen more than once.

Who Was Beverley Allitt?

As per Biography, Beverley Allitt was a paediatric nurse at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital in Lincolnshire, where, between February and April 1991, she murdered four children and attacked nine others. Dubbed the 'Angel of Death' by the press, Allitt exploited her access to medical supplies to harm young patients in ways that were difficult to immediately trace.

Her methods were chillingly varied. She injected children with insulin, potassium, and air, tampered with oxygen supplies, and smothered victims when machines were silenced. In many cases, she was the nurse who raised the alarm when a child suddenly collapsed, placing herself at the centre of the drama.

The pattern began with seven-month-old Liam Taylor, admitted with a chest infection. Alone with Allitt, he suffered two unexplained respiratory crises before going into cardiac arrest. Left with catastrophic brain damage, he later died after his parents agreed to withdraw life support. At the time, no one suspected murder.

A Pattern Hidden in Plain Sight

Over the following weeks, children continued to collapse inexplicably. Timothy Hardwick, an 11-year-old with cerebral palsy, died just hours after admission. Other children survived only because they were transferred elsewhere.

In April 1991, two-month-old twins Katie and Becky Philips were targeted. Becky was declared hypoglycaemic without evidence, discharged, and then died at home later that night.

Despite the mounting incidents, suspicion was slow to crystallise. It was only after the death of 15-month-old Claire Peck, Allitt's 13th victim, that staff began comparing notes. Claire had suffered a heart attack minutes after being left alone with the nurse. A second attack later killed her.

How Beverley Allitt Was Caught

Once police became involved, the case unravelled quickly. A search of Allitt's home uncovered missing nursing logs and the keys to the insulin fridge. The evidence tied her to every incident. She was arrested in November 1991 and charged with murder, attempted murder, and grievous bodily harm.

At trial, medical experts suggested her behaviour was consistent with Munchausen syndrome by proxy, now known as factitious disorder imposed on another. Allitt denied the charges and never provided a clear motive. In May 1993, she was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 13 concurrent life sentences.

Where Beverley Allitt Is Now

Within days of sentencing, Allitt stopped eating and drinking and was transferred to Rampton Secure Hospital, where she remains detained at the age of 57. A request in 2023 to move to a standard prison was denied, keeping her within the psychiatric system.

Is Lucy Letby a Copycat Killer?

The crimes of Lucy Letby, committed more than two decades later, have inevitably revived comparisons. Both women targeted children in their care, used insulin and air injections, and operated within systems that struggled to accept the idea of a killer nurse. A retired detective involved in the Allitt case described Letby as a 'copycat murderer', suggesting it was 'almost like she read the Allitt book'.

Whether imitation or coincidence, the similarities are stark. Letby's own writings, including 'I AM EVIL I DID THIS', were dismissed by her defence as expressions of distress rather than confession. As with Allitt, motive remains elusive. What is clear is that the lessons of the past were not fully learned.

The Investigation of Lucy Letby is available now on Netflix. The series answers more than a few questions about the nurse.