A nurse who has killed a strange 'almost' by injecting him with a powerful paralyzing drug in a 'Motiveless' attack today convicted of attempted murder.
Darren Harris, 58, went to a record store and without provocation -owner Gary Lewis, 65, at the back with an injection needle.
The drug rocuronium effectively paralyzes the muscles of the body and a short time later Mr Lewis collapsed, struggled to breathe, could not move or communicate and lost consciousness.
“It was the most frightening feeling I have ever experienced and it just happened so quickly,” said Mr. Lewis. “I really thought I died.”
The jury of the Leeds Crown Court lasted less than two hours to be guilty of attempted murder. Harris showed no emotion when the judgment was announced.
The judge said that Harris, who has been in custody since his arrest last July, will receive a 'very long -term' prison sentence.
The conviction was postponed to assess Harris's level of 'danger'.
Mr Lewis only survived because of rapid treatment by paramedics who carried out resuscitation after finding no pulse and gave him oxygen. The court heard that Mr Lewis would have died within a few minutes without the emergency treatment.
Record Store owner Gary Lewis (photo) was attacked by a nurse who admits a dose of rocuronium with the help of a needle and spray in Northallerton in North Yorkshire, a court heard
Darren Harris, 57, from Middlesbrough, has been convicted of attempted murder. He is depicted in the camera images of the camera rates that are arrested by the police shortly after the attack
Harris poked his victim in the Muziekwinkel Betterdaze (photo) in Northallerton last July
Harris had tried to drive away, but before the medicine came into force, Mr. Lewis ran after him, brought a sign on the road as a barrier and physically blocked his car to leave.
He was also able to shout to help and reveal that he was injected before he collapsed, the court was told.
Harris worked as a senior member of the cardiothoracic Operating Theater Team at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. He had taken the drug rocuronium illegally, used routinely to help the intubation of patients of work.
The motive for the bizarre attack remains a mystery.
Harris, a married father of two, told the police after his arrest that he had injected Mr Lewis with water and was planning him in the store a month earlier. Harris claimed that he had pushed the store outside to the sidewalk by Mr Lewis after he had gone there to sell his data.
But the court heard that this incident never happened. Harris sold his record collection of 300 or 400 records to Mr Lewis for £ 400 on 29 May. But Mr Lewis said he never had a fight with a customer and nobody had fallen. CCTV certificate showed that no fall had taken place outside.
Richard Herrmann's public prosecutor said to jury members: 'It is nonsense that there had been an argument. There was no fight. '
The suspect refused to provide evidence, but Mr Lewis, who owns the Betterdaze store in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, reminded his testing to the court.
While the emergency services fought to save Mr Lewis's life outside the store, 'calm' Harris was repeatedly asked what he had injected and responded with 'nothing', heard a process
Harris returned to the store on July 2 to buy a few records and told Mr Lewis that his wife had allowed him to have a music room at home. Mr. Lewis said they had a “very friendly conversation.”
Mr. Lewis told the court that he had no reason to concern and added: “I was totally relaxed in his company.”
Just after Harris had handed in cash to buy an Ian Drury record, he squatted down and injected Mr Lewis into the buttock without warning.
“I felt a dick. It was very sharp and deep and painful, “he said. “I was shock in total and I didn't know what to do.”
The shop owner said he was following Harris the store to his car and asked what he injected him. Harris said, “Only water size.”
Mr. Lewis, a former police officer of 30 years of service, said he was shouting at a colleague for help and stood in the parking lot to block Harris while trying to drive away.
'I started to feel dizzy when I felt my legs go and I told Sue (his colleague) it at that time on the phone to the police and the ambulance. And I remember that I was more and more unable to move. '
Another shopkeeper brought a chair forward and Mr Lewis sat down.
“I couldn't hold my head, arms. I lost consciousness, “he remembered.
'I tried to move something to let people know that I was still aware.
“I tried hands, head, voice, feet. I remember her (Sue) shouted at the phone “He fits!”
“I actually thought I would die. I couldn't breathe, I choked. Nothing moved. I even tried to scream, I know that sounds dramatic, thinking if I can't get a word, I might scream. I couldn't do that either. '
Mr Lewis said he believed that he would never recover from the trauma.
“I have not recovered now and I will probably never do that,” he said. “I'm wary for people behind me and near me.”
The court heard that Harris would have known the consequences of the drug rocuronium by working his work with anesthetics in the hospital.
Dr. Alistair White, a consultant who treated Mr. Lewis, told the court that he would have died if he had not been helped to breathe through medical treatment. The drug stops the muscles with which breathing cannot work and without medical help that it quickly causes death, the court heard. Rocuronium is safe in operational theaters, because patients are connected to equipment that supports breathing.
The public prosecutor told the jury, Mr. Lewis came “very, very close to dying and” meant to kill him. ” A police investigation found 'no motive'
Judge Simon Phillips, KC, the jury told before they found their judgment: “It is not necessary to prove the prosecution.”
Harris lives with his wife and children in a semi-detached house in a quiet dead-end road in Middlesbrough.
Neighbors said they did not socialize or know him well. One said: “I wouldn't see him often, but he would say hello if I did. He was quiet person. '
Harris has no earlier convictions and worked for his arrest in the operating theater in the hospital.
