Call to dismiss nurse's appeal

The appeal court has been urged to dismiss a Northamptonshire nurse's challenge to her conviction for murdering her disabled husband by injecting him with insulin.

Deborah Winzar, 37, was found guilty of murdering her 34-year-old husband Dominic McCarthy at their home in Stonely, Cambridgeshire, in 1997.

Stephen Kay QC, for Winzar, has argued in court that there is "no direct evidence or even any evidence" that Winzar injected her husband with a lethal dose of insulin.

But on Friday, James Curtis QC, said that the only conclusion on the case to draw is that Mr McCarthy was deliberately injected with insulin.

'Safe conviction'

He told London's Criminal Appeal Court that Winzar's appeal presented no clear evidence that had not been presented at the original trial.

"This is a perfectly safe conviction," he said.

Mr McCarthy was injured in a motorcycle accident in 1994 and used a wheelchair.

Winzar had been a senior ward sister at Kettering General Hospital in Northamptonshire.

Earlier Mr Kay told the court: "This was a case where the evidence was that the couple had a happy relationship, they had been married for several years and they had been together for even longer."

Lord Justice Dyson, sitting with Mr Justice Harrison and Mr Justice Cooke, said they hoped to give their decision at the end of next week.