Ananova:

A staff nurse has been convicted of murdering four frail patients by giving them overdoses of the diabetes drug insulin.

Colin Norris, 32, from Egilsay Terrace, Glasgow, who once said he disliked caring for "geriatric patients", killed the elderly women and tried to murder another while he worked at two Leeds hospitals in 2002.

The trial at Newcastle Crown Court, which started in mid-October, heard that suspicions were raised when Norris predicted the death of one woman, who slipped into a fatal hypoglycaemic coma later in his shift.

West Yorkshire Police looked into other earlier deaths while he was working at Leeds General Infirmary and the city's St James's Hospital. They found three other women, none of whom were diabetics, had died from insulin overdoses.

Norris was convicted of the charges by an 11-1 majority on the fourth day of deliberations.

His victims were Ethel Hall, 86, from Calverley in Leeds, Doris Ludlam, 80, from Pudsey in West Yorkshire, Bridget Bourke, 88, from Holbeck, Leeds, and Irene Crookes, 79, from Leeds.

Norris was also convicted of the attempted murder of Vera Wilby, 90, from Rawdon in Leeds, who recovered from an unexpected hypoglycaemic attack in 2002.

Prosecutor Robert Smith QC told the jury there were "remarkably common facts" between Norris's five victims, who had all undergone surgery for hip fractures.

Each was in poor health and could be regarded as a "burden to nursing staff", Mr Smith said. Each suffered from hypoglycaemia between four and 12 days after surgery.

Throughout the case he denied all the charges. Norris was on bail for most of the trial but as the hearing drew towards its conclusion he was held in custody.