Nurse Lucy Letby has been found guilty of murdering seven babies

[Hereford Voice]

Nurse Lucy Letby

Cheshire Police Statement:

𝙊𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙃𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩

A neonatal nurse has been found guilty of murdering new-born babies that she should have been caring for.

Lucy Letby, from Hereford, has been found guilty of seven counts of murder.

The 33-year-old has also been found guilty of seven counts of attempted murder.

She has been remanded into custody and is due to be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Monday 21 August.

Following the verdict, Deputy Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans, said:

“𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲. “𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗲𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 – 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 – 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴. “𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 – 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗪𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘀. “𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿. 𝗪𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱. “𝗠𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 – 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 – 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.”

Letby, who qualified in September 2011 after graduating from university, used a variety of methods to target the victims – injecting the babies with air and poisoning them with insulin as well as over feeding them with milk.

In court the prosecution had claimed that Letby was a competent nurse who knew exactly what she was doing when she deliberately harmed the babies in her care.

The defence argued that there was no evidence to suggest Letby had inflicted harm on any baby citing ‘sub-optimal care’ by the hospital, issues with poor hygiene and a campaign of conspiracy against the defendant by a number of senior doctors as reasons for the deaths and non-fatal collapses.

After 10 months and 110 hours of deliberating the jury dismissed Letby’s version of events and agreed that she was responsible.

DCI Evans added:

“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝘼 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙮, 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙚𝙨; 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮. 

“𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨.”

In early May 2017, The Countess of Chester Hospital Foundation Trust contacted Cheshire Constabulary regarding neonatal services at the hospital. This was in relation to a greater number of baby deaths and non-fatal collapses than normally expected during the period of June 2015 and June 2016.

As a result, Cheshire Constabulary launched an investigation called Operation Hummingbird. This initially focused on the deaths of eight babies between June 2015 and June 2016 where medical practitioners at the hospital had expressed concern.

In addition, the investigation also conducted a review of a further seven baby deaths and six non-fatal collapses during the same period.

As time went on and further information came to light the scope of the investigation widened and further cases were reviewed.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, said:

“𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙭 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙞𝙭 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨. 𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙣-𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙥𝙨𝙚𝙨. 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜, 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙣-𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙. 𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙞𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 – 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝 𝙞𝙩. 

“𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 – 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙚, 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚. 𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙨 17 𝙨𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 – 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙚. 

“𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 70 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙛𝙛 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 – 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙙. 

“𝙏𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮, 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 – 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙠. 

“𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 – 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮.”

Over the past six years the investigation team has been building a strong case for court – and this has been a huge task. 32,000 pages of evidence were gathered and medical records running into thousands of pages were sifted through.

Around 2,000 people were spoken to in order to gather as much information as possible – this has included staff at the Countess of Chester Hospital who worked with Letby. Almost 250 were identified as witnesses by the prosecution to potentially give evidence during the trial – although not all were needed in the end.

Strategic Lead for the investigation, Detective Superintendent Simon Blackwell, said:

“𝘼𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙙, 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙨, 𝙨𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 8,000-𝙥𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨. 

“𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙠𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 

“𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙖 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙠𝙚𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚, 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙡, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘾𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨.”

As work continued behind the scenes to gather evidence, a suspect was formally identified and on 3 July 2018 Letby was arrested at her home in Chester. She was taken into custody and interviewed by detectives and was subsequently bailed pending further enquiries.

This was followed by two further arrests – one in June 2019 and another in November 2020 – in total she was arrested three times in the space of just over two years.

During those arrests around 30 hours of video interviews were captured as Letby was asked to give her recollection of each event.

Enquiries continued during this time and on 10 November 2020 Letby was rearrested in Hereford.

One day later, she was charged with eight counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder between June 2015 and June 2016.

Letby pleaded not guilty to all charges at a hearing at Manchester Crown Court in October 2021.

In June 2022, Letby had one not guilty verdict recorded for one of the murder charges. It meant that when she went on trial last year, she faced seven murder charges and 10 attempted murder charges.

The trial has been a lengthy and complex experience for all involved – with months of evidence for the jury to sit through.

During the trial each baby case has been discussed in detail starting with emotional statements from each of the parents followed by a sequence of events, expertly prepared by two of Cheshire Constabulary’s intelligence analysts. This set the scene and focused on the story of each baby from their birth to their journey through the Neonatal Unit.

The sequence captured what happened and when in terms of staff movements on the ward, where each baby was on the unit at the time, how they were monitored and the treatment they received.

It also captured conversations during this time between Letby and other staff members via WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger – this spanned hundreds of messages – and Facebook searches that Letby carried out on parents of the babies – sometimes months after they had been on the unit.

At the end of each sequence of events the relevant prosecution witnesses were called – these were mainly staff at the Countess of Chester who were working with Letby at the time each baby was on the ward.

They were followed by medical experts specialising in areas of paediatric radiology, paediatric pathology, haematology, paediatric neurology and paediatric endocrinology with two main medical experts (consultant paediatricians) giving their opinions on each baby case and the probable cause of their death or collapse.

Summing up the feeling after verdict, Det Supt Hughes, said:

“𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙈𝙖𝙮 2017, 𝙬𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 – 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙛𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘. 

“𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙠𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙥𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨.

“𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 – 𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨. 

“𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 – 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙛𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙩 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩, 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩, 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙖 𝙝𝙪𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙭 𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨, 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙥𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙩.

“𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙤𝙬𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙡.”

If you have any information that you would like to pass onto the investigation team please get in touch via the Operation Hummingbird mailbox at Operation.Hummingbird.Public.Contact@cheshire.police.uk

[Alex]

Should be hanged! 

[Aylestone Voice]

Just remove the photograph which nobody should want to see

 

[twowheelsgood]

Yes, I'd have to agree about the photo, it's just an ego trip for her.

[Hereford Voice]

On 18/08/2023 at 19:43, Alex said:

Should be hanged! 

Agree with that