ANNE Grigg-Booth was accused of three murders. Police had said they feared she may have been responsible for many more.

But yesterday an independent inquiry said the Nelson nurse was ‘unlikely’ to have deliberately set out to harm the three patients who died.

‘She was not a Beverley Allitt,’ said the panel in reference to the Lincolnshire nurse serving 13 life sentences for killing four children and maiming nine others through lethal injections.

Instead, the inquiry lambasted ‘systemic failures’ in the management of the trust.

Grigg-Booth was administering painkillers without the permission of doctors. This was illegal, but she thought she was acting in accordance with procedure.

She even detailed all the doses she administered in medical records. But the management of the trust failed to carry out any checks.

These mistakes are unforgivable.

She died before her trial and never got to face justice for her actions. While she may not have been a murderer, manslaughter through the courts or professional misconduct were possibilities.

But much of the responsibility is borne by the trust.

And that’s why their apology – eight years after the deaths – will offer little comfort.