Unknown Gender History: Anne Grigg-Booth, Serial Killer Nurse

Anne Grigg-Booth was arrested after hospital managers conducted a "routine audit" of drugs usage and found a large number of discrepancies. It is understood that the audit was commissioned as a response to the trial of Harold Shipman, the family doctor who murdered up to 284 of his patients with illicit stockpiles of diamorphine (heroin).

Anne was, according to her colleagues, bossy and eccentric, but also competent and popular. "She was totally in control but did have a bit of a God complex," said one unnamed nurse. "She thought she could do little wrong, even though it went against hospital rules.”

Grigg-Booth was accused of poisoning patients with opiates while she worked the night shift, when doctors are far less likely to pay close attention to the drugs nurses are using. She faced 13 other counts of poisoning her patients, and was suspected in more than 20 deaths in the hospital.

While awaiting trial she met her death on August 29, 2004, through a combination of drugs and alcohol. Some regarded this as an accidental death, others believed it was suicide.

The nurse was known for her domineering personality and was estranged from her family. She was divorced but she had a sift spot for non-humans. Her home was loaded with stray animals.

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CHRONOLOGY

1979 – Grigg-Booth had worked at Airedale General Hospital in Keighley, West Yorkshire for 25 years. Night Nurse Practitioner (NNP).

Jul. 2000 – June Driver (67), murdered.

Nov. 2001 – Eva Blackburn (75), murdered.

Jun. 2002 – Michael Parker (42), attempted murder.

Jul. 2002 – Annie Midgley (96), murdered.

Sep. 2004 – Anne Grigg-Booth (51) charged. As well as the murder and attempted murder charges, Grigg-Booth faced 13 counts of unlawfully administering poison to 12 other patients. Bradford Crown Court.

Oct. 19, 2004 – AG-B released on bail.

Aug. 29, 2005 – died by drug overdose (cocktail of drugs and alcohol) awaiting trial scheduled for Aug. 29, 2006. BBC reported death as accidental; The Telegraph reported it as suicide.

Jun. 8, 2010 – report by Yorkshire and Humber Strategic Health Authority. Found that Grigg-Booth and other NNPs who were administering drugs without a prescription were victims of a management systemic failure, it states.

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SOURCES

[“Nurse bailed on murder charges,” BBC, Oct. 19, 2004]

[Michael Seamark, “The crop-haired bully with a God complex,” Daily Mail (London), Jun. 9, 2010]

[Clive White, “Police defend decision to charge Keighley nurse Anne-Grigg Booth,” Telegraph & Argus, (Bradford, England), Jun. 9, 2010]

[Paul Stokes and Nigel Bunyan, “Nurse's suicide leaves mystery of how many patients died at her hands,” The Telegraph (London, England), Aug. 31, 2005]

[Book: James Alan Fox, Jack Levin, Kenna Quinet, The Will To Kill: Making Sense of Senseless Murder, 2018, Sage]

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