Former nurse Lucy Letby has been found guilty of the attempted murder of a baby girl in England.
The 34-year-old was convicted at Manchester Crown Court last August by another jury of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neo-natal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.
A verdict on the allegation concerning a baby girl, known as Child K, could not be reached and a retrial at the same court was ordered on that single count.
Letby was convicted by the fresh jury of trying to murder the “very premature” infant by dislodging her breathing tube in the early hours of 17 February 2016.
She targeted Child K after the infant was moved from the delivery room to the neo-natal unit shortly after her premature birth.
The youngster, born at 25 weeks’ gestation and weighing just 692g, was said by the prosecution to be the “epitome of fragility”.
About 90 minutes after her birth, Letby deliberately dislodged Child K’s breathing tube through which she was being ventilated with air and oxygen.
Consultant paediatrician Dr Ravi Jayaram caught her “virtually red-handed” as he entered the unit’s intensive care room at about 3.45am and he then went on to intervene and resuscitate the girl.
Dr Jayaram told jurors he saw “no evidence” that she had done anything to help the deteriorating baby as he walked in and saw her standing next to the infant’s incubator.
He said he heard no call for help from Letby or alarms sounding as Child K’s blood oxygen levels suddenly dropped.
Letby told the jury of six women and six men she had no recollection of any such event.
She denied she did anything harmful to Child K and added that she had not committed any of the offences she had been convicted of.
Letby also denied the prosecution’s claims that she interfered with the infant’s breathing tube on two more occasions during the same shift to create the impression that Child K was habitually displacing her own tube.
Child K was transferred to a specialist hospital later on 17 February because of her extreme prematurity and died there three days later.
No post-mortem examination was conducted and the cause of death was certified as extreme prematurity and severe respiratory distress syndrome.
More than two years later in April 2018, Letby searched on Facebook for Child K’s surname.
Prosecutor Nick Johnson said it was part of a pattern of similar Facebook searches.
“The truth is that Lucy Letby had a fascination with the babies she had murdered and attempted to murder, and with their families. She took pleasure in her murderous handiwork,” he told the jury.
Letby was initially charged with the murder of Child K, but the charge was dropped in June 2022 as the prosecution offered no evidence.
In May, Letby lost her Court of Appeal bid to challenge her convictions.
A public inquiry into how Letby was able to commit her crimes on the neo-natal unit is set to begin at Liverpool Town Hall on 10 September.
A court order prohibits reporting of the identities of the surviving and dead children involved in the case.
Sentencing of Letby is due to take place on Friday morning.
Thoughts of hospital, police with baby’s family
Medical Director at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Nigel Scawn, said: “Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Baby K.
“We are extremely sorry that these awful crimes happened at our hospital. Since Lucy Letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services and remain committed to providing high quality safe care to our local communities,” Dr Scawn said.
He added: “We want to acknowledge the impact this continues to have on everyone involved in this case and restate our commitment to do everything we can to help families get the answers they deserve.
“We remain grateful for the unwavering co-operation and professionalism of our staff, some of whom returned to court to repeat evidence and relive events.
“We will continue to ensure our staff receive the care and support they need and we remain committed to fully and openly supporting the ongoing legal processes.”
Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans, of Cheshire Police, said: “This has been a long and painful journey for the parents of Baby K – having to face continual denials and sitting through very personal and upsetting evidence in the original trial and again at the retrial.
“Their courage, strength and resilience is absolutely remarkable.
“I would like to thank them for continuing to put their faith in us and I hope that the conclusion today provides them with some peace of mind and some of the answers they have been searching for.
“Once again, there are no winners in this case. Today is not a time for celebration – it is a time for reflection and a time for the family of Baby K.
“My thoughts, and those of the whole prosecution team, remain with them at this incredibly difficult time.”
Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes said: “The Operation Hummingbird team remains committed to a complete and thorough investigation into the full period of time that Lucy Letby was employed as a nurse, either while at the Countess of Chester Hospital or on placement at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
“The investigation covers the period from 2012 to 2016 and includes a review of 4,000 admissions of babies into the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital for us to work through.
“This does not mean that we are investigating all 4,000, it just means that we are committed to a thorough review of every admission from a medical perspective. Only those cases highlighting any medical concern will be subject of further detailed review.”
He said families of all the babies who were part of the investigation have been informed and are being supported.
