Arrested: Victorino Chua
A male nurse arrested on suspicion of tampering with medical records at a hospital where four people died of insulin poisoning is now being questioned over the murders of three patients, police said last night.
Married father-of-two Victorino Chua, 46, has also been arrested on suspicion of 18 counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent at Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport, Cheshire.
It is understood officers are speaking to Mr Chua over the deaths of Tracey Arden, 44, Arnold Lancaster, 71, and Derek Weaver, 83, who all received saline which had been deliberately contaminated with insulin while being treated at the hospital last summer.
A fourth patient, former Daily Mail journalist Bill Dickson, 82, who died on New Year's Eve, also suffered a dangerous fall in blood-sugar levels while on a ward at the hospital.
He is being treated as one of the GBH cases because he was identified as a victim before his death.
'This specific inquiry, and investigation as a whole, is a difficult and complex piece of work that requires very detailed forensic and medical analysis, which is ongoing.
‘We know that the victims and their families want answers. We are acutely aware of this and are working very closely with them as well as hospital staff and the local community to minimise the upset caused and to keep them fully updated of any and all developments.’
Mr Chua was originally arrested on suspicion of unlawfully administering or causing to be taken a poison or destructive or noxious thing so as to endanger life or inflict grievous bodily harm.
Police stand guard outside Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport in July 2011, shortly after the alarm was raised
16 other patients are believed to have been poisoned at Stepping Hill hospital
His arrest followed reports that the medical records of a female patient had been tampered with at the hospital during the early hours of Tuesday, which resulted in her being given the wrong medication.
'She was treated and recovered and was later able to be discharged. The warrant for his arrest was due to expire this morning but because he has been re-arrested in relation to other charges, he can be detained longer.
It is understood police are also applying for more time to question him in relation to tampering with medical records.
Officers last night searched Mr Chua's home in the Heaton Norris area of Stockport.
Mr Chua is understood to have been one of a number of nurses who were interviewed – along with scores of other hospital staff – after it was revealed that patients' saline drips had been sabotaged.
He was working on wards where as many as 20 patients were deliberately poisoned, and police are expected to question him about this as well.
The case against Rebecca Leighton was dropped after she was investigated over the deaths of three patients at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport
Another nurse, Rebecca Leighton, 27, spent six weeks in custody accused of the poisonings before being released without charge.
Melanie Wells, a neighbour of Mr Chua, said: 'We are a close community and I often saw him passing in the street with his wife and child. They are always smiling. They seem very close and loving. They didn't speak much to other people but kept themselves to themselves.'
Another neighbour said Mr Chua was 'one of the nicest men you could ever meet'. Mr Chua used to work at a nearby nursing home, Newlands, but staff there refused to comment.
- Police were today given more time to question Victorino Chua, 46, on suspicion of tampering with medical records at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Cheshire.
- Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2083405/Triple-murder-quiz-male-nurse-held-hospital-insulin-deaths.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
No comments:
Post a Comment