Stepping Hill deaths: Victorino Chua wrote of 'going to hell'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-32316771 Version 0 of 1. A letter from a nurse accused of poisoning and murdering patients that said he was going "straight to hell" was admitting guilt, a court has heard. But Victorino Chua, 49, told a jury at Manchester Crown Court the suggestion was untrue. The Filipino father-of-two denies murdering three patients and poisoning 18 others at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, in June and July of 2011. Earlier this week a 13-page handwritten letter was read to the court. Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, returned repeatedly to the letter as he cross-examined the defendant, citing the words Mr Chua had written in the "deeply personal" document, found by police at the nurse's home after his arrest for murder. Mr Chua, of Churchill Street, Stockport, said he wrote the letter after a counsellor suggested he use it as an "outlet" for his anger and frustration. But Mr Wright suggested the reason why he wrote "if I go, I go straight to hell" was as an admission of guilt. "The reason I suggest is because of what you had done and were prepared to do," the prosecutor said. 'Evil thoughts' Mr Chua replied: "Like what?" Mr Wright continued: "Like contaminating products in the hospital. Like altering the prescription charts of patients. "Like administering insulin to patients who were not diabetic and non insulin dependent. Like these things, Mr Chua?" The defendant replied: "No, that's not true." Mr Chua said he was writing about "evil thoughts" not deeds. The prosecution alleges Mr Chua used a hypodermic needle to puncture saline bags and ampoules and inject them with insulin between June 2011 and January 2012 and that they were used unwittingly by other nurses leading to a series of insulin overdoses and three deaths. Mr Chua, is accused of killing Tracey Arden, 44, Arnold Lancaster, 71, and Alfred Weaver, 83, The trial continues. |