Megan Haines has been jailed for at least 27 years for killing two aged care residents at a northern NSW nursing home by injecting both with a lethal dose of insulin.

The 49-year-old was found to have murdered Marie Darragh, 82, and Isabella Spencer, 77, in May 2014 after learning they had made complaints about her.

In making his judgment, NSW Supreme Court Justice Peter Garling described the murders as “deliberate and calculating” and a flagrant abuse of the registered nurse’s power.

Haines had previously been suspended from her job in Victoria after complaints about her and had only recently started work at the home while she was still under reporting conditions.