Allitt had attacked thirteen children, four fatally, over a 59-day period before she was brought up on charges for her crimes. It was only following the death of Claire Peck that medical staff became suspicious of the number of cardiac arrests on the children's ward and police were called in. It was found that Allitt was the only nurse on duty for all the attacks on the children and she also had access to the drugs.
Four of Allitt's victims had died. She was charged with 4 counts of murder, 11 counts of attempted murder and 11 counts of causing grievous bodily harm. Allitt entered pleas of not guilty to all charges. On 28 May 1993 she was found guilty on each charge and sentenced to 13 concurrent terms of life imprisonment, which she is serving at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire.
Allitt's trial judge recommended she serve a minimum term of 30 years, meaning she would not be released until at least 2022 and the age of 54, and then only if she was no longer considered to be a danger to the public. This represented one of the longest sentences given to a woman in Britain, exceeded only by those given to Rose West and Myra Hindley. In August 2006, Allitt launched an appeal against the length of her sentence. On 6 December 2007, Mr Justice Stanley Burnton, sitting in the High Court of Justice, London, confirmed that Allitt must serve the original minimum sentence of 30 years. It was reported that some families of Allitt's victims had previously mistakenly believed that her minimum tariff had been set at 40 years.
Allitt's motives have never been fully explained. According to one theory, she showed symptoms of factitious disorder, also known as Münchausen syndrome or Münchausen syndrome by proxy. This controversial disorder is described as involving a pattern of abuse in which a perpetrator ascribes to, or physically falsifies illnesses in, someone under their care to attract attention to themselves.
In 2005 the BBC made a dramatization of the story, Angel of Death, in which Charlie Brooks played Allitt.
In 2008, Allitt's story was depicted in an episode of the crime documentary, Crimes That Shook Great Britain.
She was also investigated in the Channel 5 series of documentaries titled Born To Kill?, featuring as one of the few on the series to really be considered by experts as 'born with a pre-disposition to kill' as a result of her suspected Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
In 2011, she was featured in the series Evil Up Close 'The Ward Assassin'.
Why did she do it?