Christina Hansen, who gave overdoses of morphine and the sedative diazepam to patients, wanted attention, the court heard.
15:46, UK,Friday 24 June 2016
A nurse, dubbed a "devil of death" by prosecutors, has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering three patients and trying to kill a fourth.
Christina Hansen, 31, was found guilty of giving overdoses of morphine and the sedative diazepam to three elderly patients at a hospital in the southern Danish town of Nykobing Falster between 2012 and 2015.
A fourth patient survived, but was also found to have traces of the substances in her blood.
Michael Boolsen, prosecuting, said: "The accused was not an angel of death. She was a devil of death.
"In the prosecution's view, there are no mitigating circumstances in this case."
Under Danish law, a life sentence only allows for a parole hearing after 12 years.
Jorgen Lange, who appealed the verdict, told Danish media that the court's decision was "shocking" given that some of the patients had been terminally ill.
Some of the more than 70 witnesses who gave evidence said they had suspected Hansen of trying to harm patients long before she was detained in March last year. They believed she was in search of drama and attention.
A psychological evaluation found that the nurse was not mentally ill but that she suffered from a personality disorder characterised by "egocentricity" and a "persistent quest for excitement."
Hansen had denied all charges. She was also ordered to pay 425,000 kroner (£46,000) in damages to family members of one victim.
And she must pay 25,000 kroner (£2,700) to the 74-year-old woman who survived the attempt on her life.
Preliminary charges filed against Hansen in August last year over a fourth suspicious death were later dropped.
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