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00:01The perfect murder, the unsolvable crime, does it really exist?
00:07In a TV first, we reveal the cutting-edge technology now used by British police to join the dots
00:15and reveal new evidence in all homicide investigations.
00:19I'm Tim Tate. I've been an investigative journalist for almost 50 years.
00:26I'm Sam Robbins, and I'm a criminal intelligence analyst.
00:30For over 20 years, I've worked alongside detectives on major murder investigations.
00:34Together, in this new series, we are going to discover the fatal mistakes
00:39which prevented the perfect murder from ever being committed.
01:18Cases of medical murder are, thankfully, very rare.
01:23Doctors and nurses are dedicated to caring for, to saving the sick.
01:31And that's what makes the appalling crimes committed by state-enrolled nurse Beverly Allett so shocking.
01:43On the 30th of April of 1991, there was some confusion at the hospital
01:49following the deaths and collapses of a number of children there,
01:54and some of it may well have been criminal.
01:58We had four deaths and 13 children and 23 attacks, and there's no doubt about it at all.
02:06They were all down to Beverly.
02:08Nobody had got a bad word to say about Beverly Allett initially.
02:13They all thought she would potentially be a good nurse.
02:16She was kind, caring, chatty, friendly.
02:21One of the parents has actually asked Beverly Allett to be a good parent for their children.
02:28You do not expect the caring professions to harm children or harm patients.
02:35Bev Allett is that little minority group that have taken advantage of the situation they're in
02:43and for their own advantage.
02:45At some stage in Beverly Allett's mind, she thought that she had committed the perfect murder.
02:54Beverly Allett, killer nurse.
02:57What my trade, journalists, always refer to these cases as killer angels.
03:03The reality's far more sinister than that, though, isn't it?
03:06Yes, very much so.
03:08Anyone looking to murder within that environment is a serial killer
03:14and will carry on until they are stopped.
03:17Though spotting a pattern early is absolutely critical when intervening in these cases.
03:23Because when you look at this, it's a relatively short period of time.
03:2859 days in which she killed four children,
03:33attempted to kill three more and badly injured a further six.
03:39That's an extraordinary short time period.
03:42It's a prolific series of offending.
03:45I was so shocked to realise it was 59 days
03:48and she'd managed to inflict that much damage and death in that time.
03:53Let's start at the beginning.
03:55What do we know about Allett's childhood and her behaviour during it?
04:06She'd had a lot of illnesses as a child
04:08and there were incidents where you could describe her as a tension seeker.
04:13There was instances at school where she fell off the bike or she fell off a wall
04:18and she was the one who always craved attention, always wanted a plaster on her knee.
04:23When she went to hospital with an infection,
04:27she had taken boiling water into her mouth so that the temperature was exceeded.
04:32She used to catheterise herself and cause all sorts of problems.
04:38She was constantly needing attention which saw her hospitalised at one point
04:44and had her appendix taken out, not because she had appendicitis.
04:49Her appendix were perfectly healthy but such was her ability to manipulate
04:54and act and feign being sick that the doctors took her appendix out
04:58and there was actually nothing wrong with them.
05:00So that's how adept she was at that age, at a very young age,
05:05in order to manipulate adults and within a medical setting.
05:09And she's doing this why?
05:11Essentially to bring attention onto herself.
05:17We now sort of would call this fictitious disorder,
05:21otherwise known as Munchausen syndrome,
05:23where she would create various situations
05:26where she would have to see doctors and medical professionals
05:29to get help for various different types of illnesses and injuries.
05:34It's certainly the attention that she craved which led her to later crimes.
05:40So as a child and a teenager, she's suffering from Munchausen's.
05:45Yes.
05:46She gets a nursing qualification.
05:49She does.
05:50But even during that, she displays behaviour which should have raised a red flag.
05:57Really disturbing stuff that should have made the people that were supervising her
06:02or running the course think, maybe something is not well mentally here.
06:08During the course of training at Grantham Hospital,
06:12there had been numerous bizarre incidents,
06:16faeces put in a fridge, curtains set on fire,
06:19that type of thing within the nursing home.
06:22And whilst the hospital authorities couldn't say that Beverly Allard was responsible,
06:29there were suggestions that she was always present when these events took place.
06:37Beverly Allard should never been in nursing in the first place.
06:41She was woefully underqualified.
06:43It's an environment that she should never, never have entered
06:46and most certainly never been left unsupervised
06:49because she wasn't qualified to be a paediatric nurse.
06:53But the issue at the time was that the hospital was chronically short-staffed
06:58and Allard was parachuted in as an emergency contract help.
07:05For an individual who has these quite sadistic or manipulative characteristics
07:10and they find themselves working in these environments,
07:13they will often come across situations of life and death almost on a daily basis
07:18and we can see how fragile something is.
07:21If somebody didn't intervene at a certain point, then somebody may have died.
07:24And they will start to see if they actually did a certain act
07:28or withheld a certain medication, that they would have an influence over those people.
07:32And sometimes those kind of lines blur themselves between life and death,
07:36caring and harm, and sometimes it becomes almost a bit of a game
07:40in some respects to people to hold that power over whether they live or die.
07:45So within two days, she's left alone at night, which is shocking enough,
07:49but that does give you an indication as to how critical those staffing levels were.
07:54And that first case, February 1991, she displays such manipulative behaviour
08:04that she persuades the child's parents to go home and get some rest
08:10and to leave Liam Taylor in her care.
08:14Yes.
08:19So the older Liam Taylor was brought in with a routine chest infection
08:24and Allet saw her opportunity.
08:30That night, under Allet's sole care, Liam's condition deteriorated.
08:37He turned blue and developed mysterious blotches on his skin.
08:44Even more strange, when his body went into spasm,
08:48the ward's alarms didn't go off.
08:53By the time a crash team arrived, Liam had suffered irreversible brain damage.
09:02Ultimately, and on medical advice, his parents agreed
09:06to switch off his life support system.
09:10Little Liam Taylor became Beverly Allet's first victim.
09:18I don't think at that time that she considered
09:22that she was committing the perfect murder.
09:25I think at that time, she was only inflicting the abuse on the children
09:33to draw attention to herself.
09:35Once the first child died, I think there is a possibility
09:40that she then thought that she could get away with additional murders.
09:47Within two weeks, she's at it again.
09:51Timothy Hardwick, an 11-year-old who suffered from cerebral palsy,
09:56was brought into ward four after suffering an epileptic seizure.
10:02Those fits were quickly controlled by drugs.
10:05Beverly Allet was seen at his bedside
10:11and she called the doctor because the boy was coughing.
10:15The doctors found that there was absolutely nothing wrong
10:18with this boy, that the treatment was working.
10:22But within two or three minutes, this boy had stopped breathing.
10:26The resource team were called,
10:27but unfortunately, they couldn't save him.
10:30He died at the hospital.
10:33She's moved on from harming herself or appearing to harm herself,
10:39Munchausen syndrome,
10:41to harming others, but still to get attention for herself.
10:45Yes, and psychologically, that is a...
10:48That's a big step.
10:50It's one thing to think,
10:51well, I can feign sickness and, you know,
10:54I've got awful aches and pains and poor me.
10:58To then project that onto children
11:02to the point where you make them so unwell
11:05that their hearts are stopping,
11:07the level that that syndrome then has to move on is shocking.
11:12And she doesn't stop?
11:13No.
11:14And she never would have stopped.
11:15She never would have stopped.
11:17Never?
11:17No.
11:20Her third victim, one-year-old Kayleigh Desmond,
11:23was admitted to ward four with a routine chest infection.
11:28Initially, she seemed to be progressing well,
11:31to be coming out of it.
11:32But after a period when Allet was again left in sole charge,
11:39little Kayleigh took a turn for the worse.
11:43She was rushed away from the hospital
11:46to another hospital in Nottingham,
11:48and that ultimately saved her life.
11:53When the doctors at Nottingham Hospital examined Kayleigh,
11:57they were puzzled,
11:58because underneath her armpit,
11:59there was a puncture mark.
12:01And beside it, a little air bubble,
12:05like a little air blister.
12:08They assume that it's an accident,
12:11so no investigation is undertaken.
12:14The question is,
12:15is when those children arrive
12:17and are admitted to the Nottingham Hospital,
12:20how is someone looking at that saying,
12:22we've got another one from ward four?
12:24It's not just that they're coming from that particular hospital,
12:27it's they're coming from the same ward.
12:29I'd like to think today
12:30that would have set alarm bells off at that point,
12:34possibly earlier.
12:37There is little doubt that Beverly Allet
12:40abused her position as a nurse.
12:43She used the opportunity to draw attention to herself,
12:48to make herself look very special,
12:50and to make herself look very competent.
12:52And that is why she did these things.
13:10There had been a succession of medical crises on ward four,
13:16and the common factor in all of this was Beverly Allet.
13:21It should have raised enormous red flags.
13:28Over the period between the 21st of February
13:33and the 22nd of April,
13:36there were numerous collapses of children,
13:41involving 13 children.
13:49The next tipping point, if you want,
13:52is a week after the third attack.
13:55Yes.
13:57When a five-month-old boy comes in,
13:59Paul Crampton, with a bronchial infection.
14:04Paul Crampton had been in the hospital,
14:06and in the first three days, nothing had occurred.
14:09At the end of those three days,
14:11he'd had his first collapse.
14:14Eventually, they decided he was hyperglycemic,
14:17put him on a glucose drip,
14:19and he recovered.
14:20The next day, Beverly Allet went to take the drip down,
14:25and he again suffered a second hyperglycemic attack.
14:30Blood was taken at that time,
14:32and analysis of that blood showed
14:34that there was an insulin level in the blood
14:37of 500 milliunits per liter.
14:40Now, that is extortionately high
14:42when you consider that any child should have somewhere
14:45between 10 and 15 milliunits per liter of insulin in the blood.
14:50Once again, the child was treated with glucose
14:54and recovered,
14:55and there followed another three days
14:57where nothing occurred with this child,
14:59so much so that on the fourth day,
15:02he was expected to go home.
15:05On that day, father arrived at the hospital
15:08and found his child blue in a collapsed state.
15:12He was resuscitated
15:14and was taken to the Queen's Medical Center at Nottingham.
15:20The sheer scale of Allet's attacks
15:22is huge.
15:24If we went through each of the cases
15:26that you've identified and laid out,
15:28we'd be here next week.
15:30Yes.
15:31But the case of the Phillips twins
15:34in April 1991 sticks out.
15:38Yes.
15:39Becky and Katie were twins who'd been born prematurely.
15:43Becky arrives in Ward 4 on the 1st of April,
15:46suffering with gastroenteritis.
15:48She goes into Allet's care
15:50and by the 3rd of April,
15:53she's found, you know, unresponsive.
15:55Her sugar levels are too low
15:56and she's cold to the touch.
15:58Very, very sadly, Becky dies.
16:01She dies in her parents' arms.
16:02She does, which is utterly heartbreaking.
16:07Blood was taken at that time
16:09and that again was analysed
16:11and that showed that this little girl
16:13had got 9,660 milliunits of insulin in the blood.
16:19So here are two children
16:20that over that period of time
16:23had been poisoned with insulin.
16:28Of course, in a medical environment,
16:31then these chemicals such as insulin
16:34would have been readily available
16:36and they would have been known
16:39to be used therapeutically.
16:42Beverly Allet would have access
16:44to those individuals
16:45and access to the materials necessary
16:48to administer these types of overdoses
16:52or materials that would elicit
16:54other reactions such as heart attack, heart failure.
16:58And of course, the detection of those overdoses,
17:02those injections,
17:02would only really come to light
17:06some days later
17:07once those individuals
17:08had been subjected to forensic testing.
17:13The twin of Becky Phillips, Katie Phillips,
17:16was taken in purely as a precaution.
17:19Beverly Allet was allocated her care
17:21and was seen at one point
17:23to have turned the cot through 90 degrees.
17:27This had the effect
17:28of making it very difficult
17:29for anybody passing down a corridor
17:31to see what was going on.
17:33The little girl was heard squealing
17:36and stopped breathing.
17:39Her chest was pumped
17:41so hard that it broke ribs.
17:46Sadly, this little girl
17:48suffered extensive brain damage during this.
17:51She went into convulsions
17:52after the initial attack on her.
17:56Once again,
17:57that's a step forward in behaviour, isn't it?
18:00It's like glory chasing
18:02that I tried, I tried to save this child.
18:05All about getting attention.
18:07All about getting attention.
18:09We know
18:10that Allet caused all of that.
18:12By this point,
18:14obviously,
18:15the parents of the Phillips twins
18:17have spent a lot of time in hospital
18:20and
18:22have been so used to dealing
18:24with Beverly,
18:25who's been on the scene
18:26of both of their daughters'
18:28extreme medical emergencies.
18:30And at some point,
18:32I'm fairly sure
18:33that Allet has convinced
18:35Katie's mother and father
18:36that actually she is the one
18:38that saved Katie
18:40despite the fact
18:41that she has caused that damage.
18:43But such is her manipulation
18:46and her ability
18:47to read people
18:49and talk to people
18:50that Katie and Becky's mother
18:52asks her to be godmother to Katie.
18:58That's early April.
18:59Yes.
19:00For the next three, four weeks,
19:04Allet continues
19:05and more children
19:06are attacked and died.
19:07The last child
19:08to tragically die
19:09under Allet's care
19:11was Claire Peck,
19:12who was a 15-month-old baby
19:14who suffered from asthma.
19:16The little girl
19:18was taken into
19:19the treatment room
19:20where Allet
19:21was left on her own.
19:23Very shortly after,
19:25Allet raises the alarm
19:27that the child
19:28has stopped breathing.
19:29The child is resuscitated
19:31and the doctor decides
19:32to give a drug
19:33called aminophiline
19:34and the little girl
19:36begins to recover.
19:37So much so
19:38that the doctor
19:39is so happy
19:40he goes out
19:41to speak to the parents
19:43saying,
19:44I don't think
19:45you'll have any more
19:45problems now.
19:47Within two minutes
19:49up goes the shout
19:51that she's collapsed
19:53and on this occasion
19:55they were unable
19:56to resuscitate her.
20:00And that's what raises
20:01finally the alarm,
20:04isn't it?
20:04It is, yes.
20:05Finally,
20:06Detective Superintendent
20:07Shaduk Clifton
20:08is given the case
20:10I visited the hospital
20:12and I got a brief outline
20:15that there were
20:16a number of children
20:17over a two-month period
20:19who had suffered
20:20unexplained collapses
20:22that had 23 incidents
20:25over a 59-day period
20:27which they couldn't
20:28account for.
20:29When I looked
20:30at the initial report
20:32from Sir David Hull,
20:34I began to question
20:36whether there was anything
20:38that was worthy
20:39of police investigation
20:40but a gut feeling
20:43said that there was.
20:45Clifton's suspicions
20:46weren't shared
20:48by his bosses,
20:49were they?
20:49They weren't.
20:50He had to fight
20:51really hard
20:52to get this case
20:54looked at properly.
20:55At the time of the
20:57Beverly Allick case,
20:58I was a detective constable
21:00working in the child
21:01protection unit
21:02at Grantham Police Station.
21:03I'd previously been
21:05at the forensic science
21:06laboratory
21:07at Nottingham.
21:09Superintendent Clifton
21:10thought I'd be useful
21:11on that sort of inquiry.
21:12At the same time,
21:14he spoke to my brother
21:15who's also a detective
21:17inspector in the police force.
21:19Actually, there was 24
21:20on the team.
21:21There were seven sergeants,
21:23seven DCs were
21:24investigating,
21:25and we had the
21:26Holmes office,
21:27which is the
21:28computer system
21:30for dealing
21:31with murders.
21:33The inquiry started
21:35in May of 1991,
21:37and I first came
21:38into contact
21:39with Beverly Allick
21:40on the 7th of May.
21:41And at that stage,
21:42she was part
21:43of the inquiry,
21:44as was every other
21:46nurse and doctor
21:47on the ward.
21:48It was merely
21:49a fact-finding mission.
21:52I decided that
21:53I would concentrate
21:54the inquiry teams
21:55on one little boy,
21:57a boy called
21:59Paul Crampton.
22:01Blood was taken
22:03on this occasion.
22:04I tasked
22:05one of my detective
22:06inspectors
22:07with finding
22:08a sample
22:08of that blood,
22:09and he eventually
22:10found one
22:11at another hospital
22:12at Boston
22:12in Lincolnshire.
22:13And it was found
22:15to contain
22:15not 500 milliliter
22:17per litre,
22:18but 43,167
22:21milliliter
22:21per litre
22:22of insulin
22:23in the blood.
22:25Forensic science
22:26is such an enormous
22:27subject that all
22:29of the things
22:29that we mentioned
22:30such as toxicology,
22:32pathology,
22:33continuity of evidence,
22:35psychology,
22:36psychiatry,
22:37they all fall
22:38under the umbrella
22:39of forensic science.
22:41And so,
22:41in this case,
22:42we were able
22:43to stitch together
22:44a narrative
22:44which closed the net
22:46around Beverly Allard.
22:49When we went
22:50to the hospital,
22:51initially,
22:52they couldn't identify
22:53the fact that
22:54insulin had been
22:55injected into the child
22:57rather than be
22:58produced naturally.
22:59When we did research,
23:01I found that C-peptide,
23:03which is just an enzyme,
23:04was released
23:05when people
23:06developed insulin
23:08in the body.
23:09In Paul Crampton,
23:11there was no proportionate
23:12quantity of C-peptide
23:15indicating that this
23:16was insulin
23:18that had been
23:18administered
23:19to this child.
23:22so here,
23:23for the first time,
23:24we've got some
23:25clear evidence
23:25that somebody
23:26has attacked
23:27children on the ward.
23:31We begin to look
23:33at the collapses
23:35of all of the children
23:37in minute detail.
23:39As soon as it became
23:41obvious that there was
23:42more than one child
23:44involved,
23:44and we had evidence
23:45to that effect,
23:46then obviously,
23:47it became a very
23:48different inquiry.
23:49It was probably
23:50the most intensive
23:52and largest hospital
23:53inquiry at the time.
23:55I tasked the members
23:57of my team
23:59with producing a chart
24:01that showed
24:02who was on duty
24:03when each of these
24:05collapses occurred.
24:07That sounds like
24:08an easy project,
24:09but the duty rotor
24:10does not necessarily
24:12reflect what happens
24:13on the day,
24:14and so we had
24:15to gather information.
24:16I actually went
24:18and spoke to
24:19a professor
24:20of mathematics
24:21who did an
24:23analytical
24:25survey of it.
24:27If you put in
24:28the 23 instances
24:30over 59 days,
24:32there was
24:32at least 42 people
24:35involved,
24:35which were nurses,
24:37cleaners,
24:37visitors to the hospital,
24:39and it came up
24:40that there was
24:41one person
24:42who would be
24:43the person responsible.
24:46That chart
24:47quite clearly showed
24:48that Beverly Allert
24:50was the only nurse
24:53that was on duty
24:54for every one
24:55of the collapses.
24:58Nurse Allert
24:59had various MOs
25:01in committing
25:01these crimes,
25:02which included
25:03injecting insulin,
25:05injecting potassium.
25:06In the case
25:07of Katie Phillips,
25:08she squeezed
25:09the child
25:09and broke
25:10its ribs.
25:11She injected air
25:13into the axilla,
25:14so air went
25:15up to the heart,
25:16caused a heart attack.
25:18And there was
25:1923 of these incidents
25:20over 13 children
25:23over a short
25:24period of time.
25:27Three weeks
25:28into the inquiry,
25:30I decided
25:31that I would
25:32have Beverly
25:33Allert arrested.
25:35Here was a girl
25:35that was about
25:3621, 22 years
25:38of age
25:38that had never
25:39been in trouble
25:39with the police.
25:40And in my naivety,
25:42I suppose I thought
25:43that perhaps
25:45when she came
25:46into police custody
25:47that she would
25:47begin to tell us
25:48the truth.
25:49I couldn't have
25:50been more wrong.
26:03arrested Beverly Allert
26:05at her home
26:07and she was brought
26:08to the police station
26:09for interview.
26:10I went with
26:11other officers
26:12to her house
26:13where she was
26:14initially arrested
26:15on suspicion
26:16of theft of a key.
26:17and that key
26:18was on a key ring
26:20that gave access
26:21to the insulin
26:24bridge.
26:25Having been arrested,
26:27my job was
26:27to accompany her
26:28to Grantham Police
26:29Station
26:30with being female.
26:32She gave
26:33no signs
26:34whatsoever
26:35to me
26:36that she was
26:36guilty,
26:38she was quite
26:39normal to talk to,
26:40she didn't panic
26:42or anything
26:43like that.
26:44The house
26:45was searched.
26:46Amongst other things
26:47found was
26:48a ward allocations
26:49book.
26:49The ward allocation
26:51book became
26:52important because
26:53somebody had taken
26:53it, obviously
26:55Beverly Allert,
26:55from the ward
26:56and it showed
26:57that Beverly Allert
26:58had been allocated
26:59the care of
27:00quite a number
27:01of the children
27:02that had collapsed
27:03and died.
27:05I interviewed
27:06her on the first
27:07evening after
27:08her arrest.
27:09The best way
27:10to describe her
27:11is she was like
27:12two different
27:12people.
27:13Outside of
27:14the formal
27:15interview,
27:15she was friendly,
27:18chatty,
27:18trying to make
27:20you a friend
27:21in some respect.
27:22But there was
27:23a distinct change
27:24when the button
27:26on the recording
27:27interview was
27:28switched on.
27:29At no time
27:30did she show
27:31any emotion.
27:32At no time
27:33did she expect
27:35to be charged
27:38for these offenses.
27:40She thought
27:40at that stage
27:41you'd got away
27:42with it.
27:46If you were
27:47someone who
27:48cared and you
27:49went into a
27:50profession that
27:50was all about
27:51caring and
27:51saving people's
27:52lives, if you
27:53were presented
27:54with multiple
27:55deaths, you'd
27:56be absolutely
27:57bereft.
27:58You'd be, you
27:59know, sobbing
27:59and...
28:00Wouldn't you
28:01want an explanation?
28:02If you were
28:03Beverly Allert,
28:04all these children
28:05had died or
28:07suffered catastrophic
28:08injuries while you
28:09were there, wouldn't
28:10you be saying,
28:11how did that
28:12happen?
28:13Is it the medicine?
28:14Is there something
28:14wrong with the
28:15medical equipment?
28:17Is there someone
28:17else on that
28:18ward that is a
28:19danger to children?
28:20I can just imagine
28:21you'd be so distressed
28:22if you were
28:22questions about that.
28:24And there were no
28:25signs of that at all
28:26in an interview.
28:27Nothing.
28:27Nothing.
28:29I remember going to
28:30her cell one morning
28:31to get her out for
28:32an interview, and
28:34she'd lost a lot of
28:35weight, and as soon
28:36as she saw me, she
28:37lifted up her top and
28:38said, oh, look, you
28:39know, I've lost a lot
28:40of weight, can you
28:41notice, as if we were
28:42the best of friends.
28:43Then you would take
28:44her to an interview
28:44room, switch the tape
28:46on, and she gets this
28:48antsy attitude, you
28:49know, I didn't do
28:50anything.
28:52When she was on
28:53bail, she went to
28:55live with another
28:56nurse.
28:58She attacked the
28:59grandson, gave him
29:00drugs from the
29:02grandmother, and he
29:02ended up in hospital.
29:04They found that he'd
29:06had a hyperglycemic
29:07attack.
29:08Even this 13-year-old
29:09boy said, well, that's
29:12strange, isn't it?
29:13It's the same thing
29:14that's happened to
29:14these babies at
29:15Grantham Hospital.
29:16What would the press
29:17say if they got hold
29:17of that?
29:19We thought that
29:20she would be afraid
29:21and that she would
29:23begin to talk to us.
29:24She would talk about
29:25anything other than
29:27the matter in hand.
29:29She completely and
29:30utterly denied anything
29:32and distanced herself
29:35from suggestions that
29:37she was there at the
29:38bedside.
29:40When we were upsetting
29:42her, if we were
29:43getting close to the
29:44truth, she became
29:45antsy and sort of
29:47to try to deflect it
29:49back to us, some
29:52tapes of the
29:52interview were
29:53released.
29:55We're going to
29:56listen to some of
29:56Beverly Allett's
29:58interview tapes.
29:59I think they're
30:00revealing.
30:01See what you think.
30:03Could you give me
30:03your full name,
30:04please?
30:05Beverly Gale Allett.
30:07Are you smiling?
30:08Is it funny?
30:10Is it, you know,
30:11light-hearted?
30:12Can't you take the
30:13interview serious?
30:14You accept what
30:15the rules?
30:17You're telling me
30:18what I'm doing to
30:19children.
30:20I'm sticking to my
30:21story.
30:21I did not do it.
30:22On all them times I was
30:23on duty and think I'm
30:24going to be so stupid
30:25to keep doing it.
30:26I don't know how stupid
30:27people are one way or
30:28another.
30:28See, I've been there
30:29for a lot of the
30:29occasion when these
30:30babies have gone off.
30:31A lot of them.
30:32Probably apart from
30:33about three of them.
30:35Which I haven't been
30:36there for.
30:37I can't get it through
30:38to nobody.
30:39And I'll tell you
30:39what, no matter what
30:42you say, I'm sticking
30:43to my story.
30:44I did not do it.
30:46What's your
30:46instant reaction to
30:48that?
30:48Disbelief, to
30:49be honest with you.
30:50The use of language,
30:52the way that she's
30:53referring to deceased
30:55children is really
30:56quite shocking.
30:58It speaks to
30:58defensiveness of me,
31:00but that she's also
31:02not taking any
31:03responsibility at all
31:05for her actions.
31:05And to refer to
31:07them in that manner
31:07is disgusting.
31:10Moving on down
31:11through her interview,
31:12let's listen to this
31:12one.
31:14If what I suspect are
31:16the line of question
31:17I'm taking, it's in
31:19your interest not to
31:20tell the truth,
31:20isn't it?
31:21Not to tell the truth.
31:22I'm telling the truth.
31:23If what I suspect is
31:25the truth, i.e. you
31:26administered something
31:27unlawfully to Paul
31:28Crampton or caused
31:29some illness for these
31:30other children, it's in
31:31your interest not to
31:32tell the truth,
31:33isn't it?
31:33No.
31:34Isn't it?
31:34No.
31:35I'd tell the truth.
31:37I'm not going to
31:37lie to you.
31:37I know you can't
31:38understand the
31:38question.
31:39Do you know what
31:40causes hyperglycemia?
31:42Diabetes.
31:43Well, apart from
31:44that.
31:45No.
31:46I don't.
31:46I'm very.
31:48I'm not very well
31:49up on more
31:50diabetic stuff
31:51anyway.
31:52No.
31:54All right.
31:54I know that if
31:55it was given insulin
31:56that would make
31:57his shovel go down.
31:58I accept that
31:59you're in your own
32:00custody amongst other
32:01things for the
32:02suspected event
32:03murder.
32:03You accept that
32:04next, which is a
32:05very serious
32:07allegation.
32:07So if it takes you
32:08a long time to think
32:09about it, then fair
32:10enough.
32:10I don't know how
32:10long you need me to
32:11think about it.
32:11I won't be able to
32:12tell you the exact
32:12time.
32:13I could go away for a
32:14year, come back, I
32:15say, still no wiser.
32:17Thick and fed up of
32:18being in here.
32:20It's very contradictory,
32:22isn't it?
32:22In that first clip, there's
32:25smiling and not taking
32:26it quite seriously.
32:28And there's the, I'm the
32:30nurse in this situation
32:31and, you know, I've
32:32looked after plenty of
32:33children.
32:34And then all of a sudden
32:35in the second clip,
32:36there's the, I'm just a
32:39nurse in this situation.
32:41Yeah, with the, so
32:42the removal of
32:44responsibility, she's
32:45flip-flopped between
32:46I'm the nurse I looked
32:48after and plenty of
32:49children lived, but also
32:50I'm the nurse, how would
32:51I know?
32:52And really, you'd expect
32:53a qualified nurse to
32:54know what causes sugar to
32:56rise and fall.
32:58You'd hope.
32:59Yes.
33:00Shall we listen to the
33:01next clip?
33:02Yes.
33:03What's the motive?
33:04What's the motive for
33:05doing it?
33:06You are trying to
33:07establish yourself as a
33:09competent nurse.
33:10I'm not competent,
33:12far from it.
33:12No, I'm one of the
33:13brindic-crackies nurse
33:14out.
33:15But I'd rather tell you,
33:16I'd rather just say I've
33:17already done it, even if
33:18I didn't, just to get
33:18away.
33:19With all these facts we
33:20put to you, we've spoken
33:22to you individually about
33:23each of the two other.
33:24Surely you've got
33:25something to say about
33:27those children.
33:28And I reply.
33:29Do you have to
33:30say you didn't intend
33:30to harm?
33:31Or cause them serious
33:32injury?
33:33Or indeed kill?
33:36The only person with
33:37the real answers is
33:38yourself, isn't it?
33:40No, clown.
33:41One key word
33:44screams out of that
33:47interview to me, motive.
33:49She's asking the police
33:51what he thinks her motive
33:54might be.
33:56That's calculating.
33:58I very much hear somebody
34:00who has got total disdain
34:03for authority.
34:04And when she's challenged
34:06to bring her credentials
34:07to the table, she dilutes
34:09it, dilutes it down, and
34:11takes the responsibility
34:12away.
34:13Total disdain for the fact
34:15that she's been caught out.
34:16And challenging them.
34:17And challenging them, yeah.
34:19You don't see that sort of
34:21response very often
34:22in interviews.
34:23So that people are
34:24willing to speak,
34:26but they're almost
34:27incriminating themselves
34:29in the manner with which
34:30they're doing so.
34:32Really interesting audio
34:34and language and attitude
34:35speaks volumes to me.
34:37It's basically saying
34:38you do your worst.
34:40Yeah.
34:41Yeah, absolutely.
34:42How often do you get
34:45access to tapes like that?
34:47It's really unusual.
34:48Obviously, when you work
34:50on an inquiry and it's
34:51a live inquiry, you can
34:53choose to watch the tapes
34:54because you're part of
34:55that investigation team.
34:57But to be able to
34:59helicopter above and look
35:01at all the patterns of
35:02offending and to get the
35:04tapes and actually get to
35:05listen to the audio is
35:06really rare.
35:07I can't lie.
35:08It's been disturbing
35:09listening to her and her
35:11attitude towards a really,
35:14really serious and tragic
35:16situation.
35:28There was press officers
35:30from various newspapers
35:32embedded and living at
35:33Grantham because of the
35:35number of children that
35:36had been attacked and the
35:38number of children that
35:40died in a very short
35:41period of time.
35:42This obviously caused
35:44great concern to people
35:46who were visiting Grantham
35:47Hospital.
35:48And I'm sure there were
35:49people who were and would
35:51not attend Grantham
35:52Hospital purely as a result
35:54of this case.
35:56We supported the findings of
36:00the investigation team that
36:01put Alec at bedside with
36:04forensic evidence that added to a
36:08case that was in the main
36:10circumstantial.
36:13And as a result, we had
36:14sufficient evidence to charge
36:16her.
36:19Alec's trial at Nottingham and
36:22Crown Court in 1993 captivated
36:25Britain.
36:26It horrified people up and down
36:29the country.
36:32It was the sort of trial where
36:35the parents of the collapsed
36:38and dead children were present.
36:40So there were obviously tears
36:42when the evidence was heard by
36:46these people.
36:47On the day that I accompanied
36:49her to court, we were in the van
36:52together and she was looking out
36:55like this at the crowds that had
36:56gathered outside the courthouse.
36:59It was obvious that she was
37:01really enjoying the fact that
37:02there were so many people there,
37:04even though they were all sort of
37:05threatening her and shouting at
37:06her and raising fists.
37:08She, it's fair to say, was not
37:10alarmed.
37:11She was more excited about it.
37:14She wasn't committed to the trial.
37:16One period of time she decided not
37:18to attend.
37:19And I think the judge allowed it
37:21not to attend.
37:22She was a known manipulator and she
37:27would spend time in the prison
37:30hospital wing rather than turning
37:33up to court.
37:34Despite all the theatrics, despite
37:36all her protestations of innocence,
37:39in the end, Allett was convicted.
37:43When the jury returned with their
37:46verdicts, I think it's fair to say
37:48that there wasn't a dry eye in the
37:49house and that, that included the
37:51police officers.
37:53So she's convicted of the 13
37:56offences, four murder, nine grievous
37:59bodily harm within, within 10.
38:01And I think it's fair to say that
38:05there was absolutely no reaction from
38:07her at all on, on conviction.
38:10Justice was achieved for these
38:13families and for the, the relatives.
38:18She received 13 life sentences.
38:20And in my mind, she should never be
38:22released, ever.
38:29When Allett is convicted and she's
38:31convicted and sentenced to multiple
38:34life terms.
38:35Yes.
38:35What would you expect to have
38:38happened?
38:39I would have expected her to go to
38:42prison and to have stayed there for
38:45the rest of her life.
38:46But?
38:47As the manipulation continues,
38:51Beverly Allett did go to prison for a
38:54short amount of time and then she was
38:57transferred to a secure hospital.
38:59When you say a secure hospital, people
39:01think Broadmoor, but there's Rampton as
39:03well and that's where she went.
39:04Yes.
39:06Conditions?
39:07Much more pleasant than prison.
39:09A lot more, um, liberty in terms of
39:12your movement and the treatment that
39:14you get.
39:15And also you have doctors and mental
39:18health workers looking after you.
39:21She's getting exactly what she wanted.
39:23Yes.
39:24Yes.
39:25She's getting attention.
39:26Yeah.
39:29I'm sure that was manipulation on her
39:31part and I don't think that that's
39:33justice for the parents.
39:38About three or four months later, I
39:41went to see her at Rampton Hospital where
39:44she was currently held.
39:46On this visit, I asked her if she would
39:50like to tell me what she'd done.
39:52At that particular time, she admitted nine of the
39:55thirteen offences.
39:57She offered no explanation and refused to offer any
40:01explanation about why she'd done it.
40:04She subsequently, through her solicitor, wrote to the
40:07Home Office and admitted the other four.
40:11So, she had admitted, in the end, she admitted the responsibility for all 13 cases that she was
40:21convicted of.
40:24I would think by the time she comes out of prison, she will be way past committing any other
40:30offences because of her age and she won't have the opportunity.
40:35And I'm satisfied that Bévé had committed these offences because she was given the opportunity.
40:44Had this case happened today, I think intervention would have come a lot earlier for multiple reasons.
40:53I think that metrics at hospitals are better understood and looked at on a regular basis.
40:59You've got teams looking at data to ensure things like this don't happen and looking at how many deaths there
41:06are and statistics,
41:08which I think would have played very heavily into it should this have happened now.
41:14If there are any failings identified in any profession, certainly in forensic science,
41:19then we have to learn from those lessons and I have no doubt that the medical profession have studied
41:27exhaustively this case and perhaps others to try and ensure that safeguards are in place.
41:36I've dealt with a lot of murder enquiries over the years and I think this probably tops them in the
41:43sense that
41:45it's a serial killer within a hospital environment.
41:50You don't expect nursing staff to be killing people that they're employed to protect.
41:57I had 33 years of police service.
42:01It's the one enquiry that sticks with me the most.
42:05It was hard work dealing with the parents, particularly the parents that had lost the children,
42:11because obviously there's a sensitive side to that as well, but we had to get all the information and that
42:17from them.
42:19It was touching.
42:22In her own mind, did she think she would get away with perfect murders?
42:29I would suggest yes, because she had everything that she needed in order to commit the perfect murders.
42:40The victims were brought to her.
42:42She had a plausible reason as to why they would have died in each case.
42:48So yes, absolutely.
42:51She certainly felt that she had hidden the facts from the authorities.
42:57She made a comment to one of the nurses,
43:00they will never be able to prove anything because they cannot find the syringes.
43:06And I think in her own mind, she thought she couldn't be caught.
43:11It's very, very difficult, I believe, for anybody to commit a perfect murder.
43:19I think that if police look at things in minute detail, as we did in the Alec case,
43:27then there will always be something that jumps out and identifies.
43:32It's not always easy to get to that point, and it's particularly difficult, I think,
43:39where you're working in an environment like a hospital,
43:43where there are any number of people that could be responsible.
43:49Certainly in this situation, she thought she'd got away with the perfect murder
43:53because nobody really suspected her and the evidence wasn't there to point towards her.
44:00And it was only upon the investigation, there was some circumstantial evidence, really,
44:06that linked her to all of these crimes that was her eventual undoing.
44:11What is so devastating about what you've laid out is that the patterns are so clear.
44:17Yes.
44:17And when I was doing it, I was really just like,
44:20how did this not get spotted sooner?
44:23Anyone looking at this would say,
44:28anyone who does that is mad.
44:33Yes, you'd think so, wouldn't you?
44:35You would most certainly think so.
44:37But she's not legally mad, is she?
44:38She is not, no.
44:40And the old phrase, bad, not mad, could be used for Beverly Allert
44:45because legally she is not.
44:48I mean, clearly there are mental health issues there.
44:52How could you possibly act in this manner and not have some form of mental health issues?
44:59However, legally.
45:01Legally, she's sane.
45:03Yes.
45:07I don't think she was born evil,
45:10but maybe something happened to her in her life, maybe it didn't.
45:15There was no evidence of that,
45:16but then there was no evidence of her actually committing any of these crimes.
45:20It was all circumstantial evidence that we had to put her together,
45:23which made it obviously difficult and a complex inquiry.
45:27But she was a very, very strange woman.
45:34In the end, it was her own behaviour, her own aberrant behaviour,
45:40which are clear symptoms of Munchausen's and Munchausen's by proxy.
45:44It was that, rather than anything else,
45:49which attracted the suspicion,
45:52which led to the police investigation,
45:55which caused her to be charged and ultimately convicted.
45:59That, in the end,
46:03was the difference between perfect murders
46:07and almost perfect ones.
46:38MUSIC PLAYS
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