A British neonatal nurse Lucy Letby has been found guilty of murdering seven newborn babies and trying to take the lives of six more during a year-long hospital killing spree.
The 33-year-old NHS (National Health Service) neonatal nurse is likely to spend the rest of her life in prison.
A former nurse who worked on the neonatal ward in the Countess of Chester hospital has today been found guilty of seven counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder.
— Crown Prosecution Service (@CPSUK) August 18, 2023She will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Monday (August 21), said a statement issued by Crown Prosecution Service.
During the trial, which began in October last year, Manchester Crown Court heard that doctors at the hospital began to notice a significant rise in the number of babies who were dying or were unexpectedly collapsing.
When they were unable to find a medical explanation, police were alerted and an investigation followed.
Letby, now aged 33, was first arrested in July 2018 and subsequently charged in November 2020, the statement said.
The prosecution was able to present evidence of Letby using various methods to attack babies, including: the injection of air and insulin into their bloodstream; the infusion of air into their gastrointestinal tract; force-feeding an overdose of milk or fluids; impact-type trauma. Her intention was to kill the babies while deceiving her colleagues into believing there was a natural cause, Crown Prosecution Service added.
Pascale Jones, prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, further said in the statement.
"In her hands, innocuous substances like air, milk, fluids - or medication like insulin - would become lethal. She perverted her learning and weaponised her craft to inflict harm, grief and death," Jones says.
"Time and again, she harmed babies, in an environment which should have been safe for them and their families."
Jones goes on to say that "parents were exposed to her morbid curiosity and her fake compassion".
A jury of seven women and four men deliberated for 22 days before reaching the verdict. One juror was excused well into deliberations for personal reasons and the judge later gave the remaining 11 jurors the option of reaching a verdict with 10 people in agreement instead of a unanimous decision, an Associated Press report said.
According to the BBC, Lucy Letby has been found guilty of murdering seven babies who were being looked after in a neonatal ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Two other babies died while Letby was working at Liverpool Women's Hospital.
Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed that there is an ongoing investigation "relating to the full period of Lucy Letby’s career", including training placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital. These took place between October and December 2012, and January and February 2015.
We are now able to say that Lucy Letby, a neo-natal nurse at The Countess of Chester Hospital, DID kill babies in her care. She is one of the most prolific serial killers in modern times. @lizhull and I are at court and The Verdict Episode of @LucyLetbyTrial will be out shortly.
— Caroline Cheetham (@RadioCaroline_) August 18, 2023According to the Daily Mail, Letby cried in court as the first of the guilty verdicts were returned. Her mother broke into a series of anguished sobs which continued even after she had left the court. At one point she cried out: 'You can't be serious. This cannot be right'.
After each of her murders, Letby appeared 'animated and excited', offering to bathe, dress and take photographs of her victims' bodies. Although her motive remains unclear, the prosecution suggested she got a 'thrill' out of 'playing God'. They also suggested she had been trying to impress a married doctor, Daily Mail reported.
Inside her messy, childlike home, police found a Post-it note on which she had scrawled: 'I am evil, I did this.'
