A BBC review says insulin and dextrose syringes were prepared in the same room while Ethel Hall was treated after being found in a coma in 2002, raising the possibility of a mix-up. Colin Norris’s four murder convictions were upheld on appeal in 2025.
Norris was convicted in 2008 of murdering Hall and three other elderly patients and attempting to murder a fifth; he was told he would not be eligible for parole for 30 years. The Court of Appeal rejected all grounds of his 2025 challenge, and the Supreme Court refused permission for a further appeal. West Yorkshire Police said officers worked tirelessly and cited the judges’ view that all five convictions were safe. Norris’s lawyers have applied to the European Court of Human Rights; his solicitor said the process could take years.
The BBC says another patient on the ward was receiving insulin around the time Hall was treated with dextrose; a nurse preparing insulin in the same room asked Norris to check the dose. Endocrinologist Joel Zonszein said the dextrose dose would not cause a coma and accidental insulin could account for Hall’s high insulin test result. The BBC also notes that an opioid prescribed for Hall’s post-operative pain, and other medicines, could have contributed to severe hypoglycaemia. Helen Hall called for a fair retrial and said she was not arguing that Norris should simply be freed.
