Nurse held over 'sabotage' deaths
Rebecca Leighton, 27, was arrested on Wednesday at her home in Stockport, Greater Manchester, just a mile from Stepping Hill Hospital, where she worked and where the deaths took place.
Victims Tracey Arden, 44, George Keep, 84 and Arnold Lancaster, 71, are thought to have died following the deliberate contamination of saline solution with insulin. A fourth patient, a man in his 40s, was "very poorly" and remained critically ill, said the hospital.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) confirmed that Leighton had been arrested. Her registration will be suspended while she remains under investigation, the organisation said.
Leighton describes herself on her Facebook page as engaged to be married and a "happy go lucky kinda gal" who "loves the weekend (if im not workin) and having a laugh with the people that I call friends for a reason x". Below her employer details, Leighton states she is a staff nurse, adding: "god it hard work x".
Neighbours said she had lived in the flat with her fiance above a darts equipment shop in Buxton Road for about 12 months. She was described as a "sociable and pretty young girl".
Police searched the property on Wednesdaay afternoon before taking away six bags of items and computer equipment for further examination. A significant police presence remains at the hospital, where more than 50 staff have been questioned.
Detectives were called in last week after an experienced nurse reported a higher than normal number of patients on her ward with "unexplained" low blood sugar levels, pointing to saline ampoules being sabotaged. Officers found insulin had contaminated a batch of 36 saline ampoules in a store room close to ward A1 of the hospital.
A team of 60 Greater Manchester Police detectives are involved in the inquiry with wards A1 and A3 the centre of the complex investigation.
The treatment of 10 other patients, who were affected by the contaminated batch of saline from July 7 but have since recovered, is also being probed.
