Benjamin Geen and his parents can protest his innocence all they like.

But the fact is that a jury at Oxford Crown Court found the evil nurse guilty of a catalogue of horrific crimes while he was working at the Horton Hospital, Banbury. He murdered two patients in his care and caused grievous bodily harm to 15 others.

His warped way of getting excitement out of life was to inject patients with deadly drugs to stop them breathing, then enjoy the drama of helping to revive them.

It is only right that he should pay heavily for his wicked behaviour.

We said when Geen was found guilty last month that he should spend the rest of his days in prison.

Mr Justice Crane, sitting at Oxford Crown Court yesterday, gave him 17 life sentences and said he would not be considered for parole for a minimum of 30 years.

That means he could be out on the streets when he is 55, still young enough to cause mayhem.

When he is finally released, steps must be taken to make sure that he never works again in any of our hospitals or care services.

With his twisted mind, he could not be trusted anywhere.

The judge went out of his way and rightly so to praise the detectives who brought Geen to justice, and staff at the Horton, who raised suspicions about his work.

Had staff not sounded the alarm when they did, Geen might have gone on to murder and injure even more patients.