In 2008, 18-year-old Lucy Letby began working as a student nurse in the neonatal unit of Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire, a town in northeastern England not far from Liverpool. Letby qualified as a children's nurse in 2011, and following her graduation from nursing school, stayed on to work at Countess of Chester Hospital in the neonatal unit. By all accounts, she was a competent and caring healthcare worker.
In May 2017, after the deaths of 17 premature infants in Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit during the period March 2015 to July 2016, deaths physicians were unable to attribute to illness or any specific medical cause, hospital administrators requested a police investigation.
In addition to the mysterious deaths in the neonatal unit within the relatively short time span, 16 neonatal babies suffered what medical personnel called "non-fatal collapses," a term pertaining to infants whose health suddenly and severely declined but did not die.
In May 2017, detectives with the Cheshire Police Department launched an investigation to determine if the infant deaths and near deaths had been intentionally and criminally caused.
Cheshire detectives, in July 2018, arrested neonatal nurse Lucy Letby on suspicion of murder and attempted murder of the infants who died and had gotten suddenly ill under her watch. The 28-year-old suspect denied any criminal wrongdoing in connection with her care of these babies. Without evidence, physical or otherwise, connecting nurse Letby to the infant deaths and illnesses, the authorities chose not to formally charge her with murder or attempted murder. Lucy Letby was released from custody pending further investigation. The hospital, taking no chances, fired her.
In 2019, Cheshire police homicide took Lucy Letby into custody for further questioning. She continued to maintain her innocence, and was again released.
On November 11, 2020, a Crown prosecutor charged Lucy Letby with eight counts of murder in the deaths of the eight premature infants. She was also charged with ten accounts of attempted murder in connection the infant non-fatal collapse cases. The magistrate denied the suspect bail.
According to the pathologist who had examined the victims, the babies had suffered heart and lung failures.
As of this writing, the authorities have not disclosed how they believe the nurse caused the deaths and near deaths of these infants, nor what evidence they had linking her to the crimes.
Just a "point of order", you say that the hospital fired her. That's not true. She was placed on suspension after her arrest. A few days after she was charged in November 2020 her right to practice was suspended pending the outcome of the legal proceedings. She has not been dismissed by the hospital as yet, as far as I am aware. I doubt she will be unless she is convicted.
ReplyDeleteHer case is extremely interesting as she really doesn't fit the profile of a serial baby murderer as far as I can see.
You mentioned that on the occasions that she was arrested and interviewed that she "maintained her innocence". That cannot be known with certainty; her interviews may have simply been "No Comment" interviews on her part which neither admits not denies guilt. I tend to think though that she is the type who would have protested her innocence, at least initially until her solicitor may have advised her otherwise.
Do you know the name of the pathologist who has accused her of his?
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