Home care boss on trial for murder

London : A nursing home manager killed two elderly patients and stole their medication for her own use, a court heard on Monday.

Rachel Baker, 44, became addicted to drugs, including heroin, which were prescribed to the men and women in her care, the jury at Bristol Crown Court was told.

She killed Francis Hay, 85, and Lucy Cox, 97, by giving them a lethal painkiller overdose and altered medical records to hide her addiction, the court heard

The court was told that Baker was a registered nurse when she started working with her husband Leigh's parents at Parkfields Residential Care Home in Butleigh, near Glastonbury, Somerset. But she became hooked on a range of painkillers, including diamorphine, the medical name for heroin, which is used as a powerful painkiller.

Depression

Baker, who suffered from migraines, had herself been prescribed painkillers and was also diagnosed with depression, but her addiction worsened and she turned to patients' prescriptions to feed her habit.

After she was appointed manager, Baker was responsible for administering medication to the 16 residents but kept "chaotic" records.

The court heard that thousands of doses —including 365 morphine tablets and 1,323 vials of diamorphine — supplied to the home remained unaccounted for. 'Many of those drugs were prescribed lawfully to the home's residents which Baker acquired unlawfully for her own use. It is with that background that the prosecution allege she murdered Hay on November 27, 2006, by administering an overdose of prescription drugs and Cox on January 1, 2007 . by administering to her a massive overdose of tramadol.

— Daily Mail