A British neonatal nurse, Lucy Letby, aged 33, was convicted on Friday for the killing of seven babies and the attempted murder of six others. The incidents occurred during her time working at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016.
Letby was found guilty of deliberately causing harm to the newborns through various means, such as injecting air into their bloodstreams and introducing air or milk into their stomachs using nasogastric tubes.
The prosecutor, Pascale Jones, stated that Letby deceived her colleagues and manipulated harmless substances like air, milk, fluids, and medication into lethal agents.
The nurse's actions caused harm, grief, and even death, in what should have been a secure environment for infants and their families.
Throughout the trial, it was revealed that Letby faced accusations of injecting insulin into intravenous feeds and tampering with breathing tubes, ultimately poisoning some of the infants. She denied all the charges. The identities of the alleged victims are protected by British law.
The verdict was reached after 22 days of deliberation by a jury of seven women and four men. One juror was excused during the reviews, and the remaining 11 jurors were given the option of reaching a verdict with the agreement of 10 jurors instead of requiring unanimous consensus.
While Letby was found not guilty on one attempted murder charge, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on several other charges. The trial, which began in October of the previous year, disclosed that the hospital experienced an unexplained increase in infant deaths and health deterioration in 2015.
Prosecutors alleged that Letby was present during these incidents and had a negative influence, with some referring to her as a "constant malevolent presence" during the incidents.
The prosecution contended that Letby's actions left minimal traces and that she manipulated her colleagues into believing that the collapses and deaths were within the realm of normalcy.
The initial incident reportedly occurred in June 2015, involving a prematurely born boy who died within a day. Prosecutors claimed that Letby injected air into his bloodstream.
The investigation into the infant deaths was initiated by the police in May 2017, leading to Letby's arrest three times before she was charged in November 2020.
Prosecutors highlighted a Post-It note found at her home in 2018, which contained the words "I am evil, I did this," as a confession. Letby's defense argued that she was a dedicated and caring nurse who was unjustly accused due to a lack of substantial evidence.
They suggested that the sudden health collapses and deaths could have been due to natural causes or combined with other factors, including staffing shortages or inadequate care from others at the hospital. Furthermore, her defense claimed that senior doctors shifted blame onto Letby to conceal deficiencies within the neonatal unit.
Throughout the trial, Letby maintained her innocence, testifying for 14 days that she never intentionally harmed any of the babies under her care.
She expressed her dedication to providing proper care and at times became emotional during the proceedings. Her defense argued that notes found in her possession reflected a woman struggling with self-doubt and were not indicative of guilt.
In conclusion, Lucy Letby, a neonatal nurse in a British hospital, was found guilty of killing seven babies and attempting to kill six others during her time of employment.
The trial brought to light a series of deliberate harmful actions towards newborns, resulting in harm, deaths, and grief. Letby maintained her innocence throughout the trial, but the evidence presented led to her conviction on multiple charges.