After the first three deaths in summer 2015, Lucy Letby was identified as a common factor but no-one yet suspected foul play/bbcnews
Lucy Letby, an English nurse who worked in the neonatal unit at Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England, was found guilty on Friday of murdering seven premature newborns and attempting to murder six others. The trial, which began last October, horrified the British public.
She injected air into their blood or stomach. An English nurse was found guilty on Friday, August 18, of killing seven premature newborns in the hospital where she worked and attempting to murder six others, following a lengthy trial that horrified the British public.
Described as “cold, calculating, cruel, and persistent” by the prosecution, Lucy Letby, now 33 years old, worked in the intensive care unit at Countess of Chester Hospital in the city of the same name in northwest England.
Between June 2015 and June 2016, seven premature babies suddenly died there without any apparent reason, sometimes just hours apart. Ten other babies had come close to death, again without any apparent reason, but were able to be saved.
The young woman, who claimed her innocence, will be sentenced at a later date. She was accused of injecting air into the newborns’ veins, using their nasogastric tubes to send air or an overdose of milk into their stomachs. She allegedly added insulin to feeding solution bags, dislodged the breathing tube of a severely premature baby, overfed a small victim through a feeding tube. And sometimes, she combined multiple forms of assault.
On Friday, the British government ordered an independent inquiry into the “circumstances behind the horrific murders and attempted murders of babies.” This inquiry aims to “ensure that families get the answers they need.”
This 33-year-old woman, who claimed her innocence, will learn her sentence on Monday. She was not present in court on Friday.
She killed, then assisted desperate parents
At the time, she was 25 years old. She was the only member of the medical staff on duty during the sudden deterioration of the newborns, emphasized Judge James Goss, before the 12 jurors began deliberating on July 10.
She was accused of attempting to murder some of them multiple times, and 22 charges were brought against her, seven for murder and 15 for attempted murder of ten babies.
The trial began on October 10 in Manchester. The babies were identified only by letters, from A to Q, to protect the families. Parents testified, sometimes in tears.
The defense described Lucy Letby as a “dedicated” professional. “My work was my life,” she insisted.
Prosecutor Nick Johnson meticulously reconstructed her schedule and the similarities between the deaths. He explained that Lucy Letby attacked the babies after their parents left, when the responsible nurse was away, or at night when she was alone. She would then sometimes join collective efforts to save the newborns or even assist desperate parents.
Among the victims were twins and even triplets, two of whom died 24 hours apart after her return from vacation in June 2016. The third was spared, as the parents pleaded for the baby to be transferred to another hospital.
“Uncontrollable”
At the time, having killed without attracting attention, she became “uncontrollable,” the prosecutor claimed. “She thought she was God.”
A severely premature baby, attacked three times in September 2015, remains severely disabled to this day.
“I don’t deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to take care of them. I’m a horrible person,” the nurse wrote on a post-it note found at her home in 2018. In other documents, however, she claimed her innocence.
Her lawyer, Ben Myers, argued that the neonatal unit in 2015-2016 “received more babies than usual, with greater care needs,” and “failed” to respond adequately. He denounced the lack of evidence against his client, claiming that incompetent doctors had made her a scapegoat.
In his closing argument, he denounced a “presumption of guilt.”
According to the prosecutor, Lucy Letby also falsified certain medical notes to confuse the investigation.
During the trial, a mother recounted how, returning to bring milk to one of her premature twins at 9 p.m. in August 2015, she heard him screaming and discovered blood around his mouth. She was reassured by Lucy Letby, who advised her to go back to her room.
According to the prosecution, the nurse had just pushed medical equipment down the tiny baby’s throat and also injected air into him. He died a few hours later after losing a quarter of his blood.
Transferred to an administrative position in June 2016, arrested for the first time in 2018, then in 2019, Lucy Letby was finally incarcerated in November 2020.
Source: BBC News