Lucy Letby may have harmed dozens more babies,
police fear
Exclusive: Officers investigating ‘suspicious’
incidents at Countess of Chester and Liverpool women’s hospitals
Josh
Halliday North of England correspondent
Sun 20 Aug
2023 18.42 BST
Police
believe Lucy Letby, the nurse convicted of murdering seven babies, may have
harmed dozens more infants at two hospitals in the north-west of England, the
Guardian has been told.
A source
with knowledge of the police investigation said detectives had identified about
30 babies who suffered “suspicious” incidents at the Countess of Chester
hospital where she worked.
Letby, 33,
has been found to be on duty for each of these unexplained collapses, it is
understood. Police are also examining the medical records of babies born at
Liverpool women’s hospital where Letby also worked.
These 30
babies, who all survived, are in addition to the 17 infants who featured in the
nurse’s 10-month trial at Manchester crown court.
Letby is
facing a whole-life sentence on Monday after being found guilty of murdering
seven babies and trying to kill another six in “persistent, calculated and
cold-blooded” attacks in the year to June 2016.
She was
found not guilty of two counts of attempted murder and the jury was unable to
decide whether she tried to kill another four.
Experts
have been asked by Cheshire constabulary to examine the medical records of more
than 4,000 babies born at Liverpool women’s hospital and the Countess of
Chester between 2012 and 2015.
The
Guardian has been told that the 17 babies who featured in the recently
concluded trial were in “phase one” of the continuing police investigation,
called Operation Hummingbird.
It is
understood that detectives had earlier this year identified a further 40 babies
who suffered “suspicious” incidents when Letby was on shift at the Countess of
Chester hospital. Further inquiries meant that some of these infants were later
de-prioritised by investigators, although their cases have not been dropped
altogether.
By April,
detectives are understood to have identified “suspicious” cases involving about
30 babies at the Chester hospital.
Investigations
are also continuing at Liverpool women’s hospital, where Letby completed
placements in 2012 and 2016. At least one family was told earlier this year by
police that the birth of their child is part of the inquiry, it is understood.
Cheshire
constabulary has said it is “impossible” to put a figure on the number of cases
because the investigation, staffed by between 60 and 70 detectives, is still
open.
Det Supt
Paul Hughes, who led the Letby inquiry, has confirmed that there are “active
investigations” into the collapses of “a number” of babies and that their
families were being supported by specially trained officers.
He added:
“From 2012 through to 2016, there were more than 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 we are investigating all 4,000, it just means that we are committed to
a thorough review of every admission from a medical perspective, to ensure that
nothing is missed throughout the entirety of her employment as a nurse. Only
those cases highlighted as concerning medically will be investigated further.”
Neonatologists
are combing through the records of 4,000 babies and then passing to police any
who suffered “unexpected and unexplained” deteriorations.
The police
will then send those cases to the relevant hospitals to determine whether there
may be an innocent explanation for the baby’s sudden collapse. If harm cannot
be ruled out, that baby’s case will be examined in detail by medical experts
instructed by Cheshire constabulary.
The scale
and challenge of the investigation is huge, not least because of the number of
babies involved and the time that has elapsed since they were born – but also
because the medical evidence is incredibly complex.
The trial
heard how Letby, who was in her mid-20s when she carried out the attacks,
murdered newborns by injecting air into their tiny bodies, in some cases
shattering their diaphragms, or in one case by pushing a tube down an infant’s
throat. She tried to kill two babies by lacing their feeding bags with insulin.
Her victims
included two identical triplet brothers, killed within 24 hours of each other,
a newborn weighing less than 1kg (2lb) who was fatally injected with air, and a
girl born 10 weeks premature who was murdered on the fourth attempt.
One of the
babies was the size of an adult hand, weighing just over 535g (1lb), when she
was born 15 weeks premature and given a 5% chance of survival. Letby tried to
kill the girl twice – the first attempt just hours after she and the family had
marked her 100th day of life with a celebratory cake, and the second on what
would have been her due date two weeks later. Letby was found not guilty of a
third count of attempted murder against her.
The little
girl, known as Child G, was diagnosed with quadriplegic cerebral palsy after
the attacks. Now eight, she is nil by mouth and requires 24-hour care.
Letby is
expected to become only the third woman alive to be handed a whole-life tariff
– meaning she will never be released from prison – when she is sentenced on
Monday.
The other
two women serving whole-life terms are Rose West, who tortured and killed at
least nine young women in the 1970s and 1980s, and Joanna Dennehy, who murdered
three men in what came to be known as the Peterborough Ditch Murders in 2013.
West, now
69, is believed to be serving her sentence at HMP New Hall in West Yorkshire,
where Letby has been held since last October.
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