NEIGHBOURS and police are divided over whether an East Lancashire nurse intended to kill three patients while working as a sister at a Yorkshire hospital.

Investigators behind an NHS public inquiry reported that Anne Grigg-Booth, from Nelson, may have acted unlawfully, in giving high-level dosages of painkillers to a number of patients at Airedale Hospital in Steeton.

They said it was unlikely she “meant to harm”.

But police who investigated her work as a night nurse practitioner are convinced they were right to charge Grigg-Booth with three offences of murder and one charge of attempted murder.

People who knew the nurse, who lived in Henry Street, Bradley, and was married to former Colne nurse and teacher Paul Grigg-Booth, are not convinced though.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: "I am sure there was a lot more to it than ever came out. She never denied giving people injections but there were a lot more people involved.

“My personal opinion is that I don't think she did it, but you can never be completely sure.

“When she moved here, she never denied who she was and told me everything that had gone on. She always denied doing anything wrong.”

Another neighbour said: "She always had lots of friends round, from where she used to live and they even cleaned her house out after she was found dead."

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "A thorough and detailed investigation was carried out into the deaths at Airedale Hospital.

"The whole of the evidence, which was voluminous and included expert medical evidence, was considered by the Crown Prosecution Service, which determined that Anne Grigg-Booth, should be charged with a number of offences of murder, attempted murder and administering noxious substances.

"Anne Grigg-Booth died before her trial. Therefore the evidence against her was never able to be brought before the criminal courts, where it could be tested in front of a jury.

"It is, of course, a matter for the inquiry to come to its own conclusions but we are satisfied that the West Yorkshire Police investigation was thorough and the decision by the CPS to prosecute was the correct one."