A neonatal nurse who worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England has been convicted of killing seven babies and attempting to kill six others. Lucy Letby, 33, was found guilty of murder in the deaths of five boys and two girls. She was also found guilty for the attempted murder of six additional infants. The nurse’s actions were described as a perversion of her profession, as she weaponized her craft to cause harm, grief, and death.
Lucy Letby faced charges for the deaths and attempted murders that occurred between 2015 and 2016. The prosecutor, Pascale Jones, stated that Letby deceived her colleagues and disguised the harm she caused as a worsening of the babies’ preexisting health concerns. Letby deliberately harmed the newborns by injecting air into their bloodstreams, administering air or milk into their stomachs, and interfering with their breathing tubes. The hospital, which experienced an unusual rise in infant deaths and sudden health deteriorations during that period, described Letby as a constant hostile presence in the neonatal unit.
The investigation into the baby deaths began in May 2017, leading to Letby’s arrest three times before she was charged in November 2020. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Letby injected air into the bloodstream of a prematurely born baby, who died a day later. They also alleged that Letby poisoned infants by adding insulin to their intravenous feeds. The trial lasted for several months, with Letby denying all charges and testifying for 14 days. Her defense lawyer argued that there was insufficient evidence to prove her guilt and suggested that natural causes or other factors could have contributed to the infants’ collapses and deaths.
Letby was found guilty on multiple charges. However, the jury could not reach a verdict on several others. The nurse will be sentenced for her crimes on Monday at 10 a.m. local time.