'No smoking gun' in nurse trial

Colin Norris is accused of murdering patients at two Leeds hospitals

Prosecutors in the trial of a nurse accused of murdering four patients have failed to produce the "smoking gun" to convict him, his defence has said.

Colin Norris, 31, denies killing the elderly patients and trying to murder another by giving them insulin overdoses at two hospitals in Leeds.

The evidence against Norris, of Elgin Terrace, Glasgow, was circumstantial, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

William Harbage QC, defending, said it was "inherently weak".

The staff nurse is charged with the murders and attempted murders of Ethel Hall, 86, of Calverley, Doris Ludlum, 80, of Pudsey, and Bridget Bourke, 88, of Holbeck, at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) between June and December 2002.

The nurse is accused of giving Ethel Hall a lethal dose of insulin

He is also charged with the murder and attempted murder of Irene Crooks, 79, of Leeds, at St James's Hospital in October 2002, and the attempted murder of Vera Wilby, 90, of Rawdon, at the infirmary.

Mr Harbage told the jury: "There is no smoking gun in this case.

"The defendant Mr Norris has not been found with a syringe in suspicious circumstances.

"He has not been found with a phial of insulin in suspicious circumstances."

The police began their investigation following the death in December 2002 of Mrs Hall who was recovering after hip surgery.

Tests after her death showed high insulin levels, which the prosecution claimed were caused by Mr Norris injecting her.

'Poor security'

But Mr Harbage said the high reading could have been caused by a rare, naturally-occurring syndrome.

Only Mrs Bourke was subjected to a post-mortem examination - and that was 14 months after burial - because the others were cremated.

Mr Harbage added security at the LGI and St James's Hospital was "poor" and members of the public could walk around without being challenged.

"If anything did happen to Mrs Hall, it doesn't have to be a nurse or doctor who did it," he said.

"Anybody can deliver a killer injection."

Mr Norris will give evidence on Monday.