A nurse who injected her elderly mother with insulin while she was in hospital has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for attempted murder. Julia Knight, 56, administered the drug to Irene Robson, 81, at Horton Hospital in Banbury last year.
Knight was found guilty at Oxford Crown Court after denying the charge but admitting to giving the insulin. Judge Ian Pringle described her actions as 'an act of immense stupidity' and said she had 'abused her position of trust'. The court heard that her actions cast suspicion on medical staff and her mother's long-term partner.
The prosecution said Knight, a practice nurse, forged a prescription for insulin. She told jurors she wanted to make her mother 'a little bit poorly' and called it 'a stupid, stupid thing to do'. The court also heard that Knight had attempted suicide in 2006 by injecting herself with insulin.
Knight's barrister, Simon Mayo QC, said the case was 'tragic' and that his client had a 'close and loving relationship' with her mother for 50 years. He argued she acted out of a desire to save her mother, who had leukaemia and had suffered a fall, from the 'ordeal' of declining health, calling it 'gross stupidity and shortsightedness' rather than anything more heinous.
Detective Inspector Craig Kirby of Thames Valley Police called it an 'incredibly sad case', noting that Knight allowed hard-working medical staff to be subjected to an intense investigation. Adrian Foster, chief crown prosecutor, said it was 'impossible to imagine a more vulnerable victim' and that Knight intended to kill her mother.
