True Crime Friday: Lucy Letby, the British Neonatal Nurse Serial Killer

Lucy Letby is a British former neonatal nurse who murdered seven infants and attempted the murder of six others between June, 2015 and June, 2016. Lucy became a suspect when the infants started to die during her shifts at an accelerated rate during her tenure at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Lucy worked in the children ward of the hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU). She was always on duty whenever an infant died of suspicious causes or circumstances.

Lucy Letby’s Early Childhood

Lucy Letby was born on January 4, 1990 in Hereford, England. She grew up as an only child. Her parents had discussions with her about her mother's difficult pregnancy when carrying her to term. According to a friend who knew Lucy since secondary school, because of this Lucy always planned to become a nurse and help infants. Letby pursued her education in nursing at the University of Chester where she also worked as a student nurse during her three years of training. She also trained at Liverpool Women’s Hospital and Countess of Chester Hospital. Lucy Letby was the first member of her family to study at a university and she graduated in September, 2011. She began her career as a nurse in 2012, and began to murder babies shortly thereafter. In a 2013, staff profile, she said that she was responsible for "caring for a wide range of babies requiring various levels of support" and that she enjoyed seeing them progress and supporting their families. Lucy Letby also took part in a campaign to raise funds for a new neonatal unit at the hospital.

The Victims of Lucy Letby

Because she murdered infants their names were not published. I will refer to them as the news papers did alphabetically. They are as follow:

• Child A-Victim A, pathologist concluded that air in child A’s circulation was most likely caused by air administration through one of two tubes already attached to the baby’s body.
• Child B-Victim child B, was subjected to “some form of sabotage” and may have been injected with a dose of air.
• Child C-Victim killed by injecting air into his stomach through a nose tube. Child C, died because the air injected into his stomach made him unable to breathe and he suffered a cardiac arrest.
• Child D-Victim child D, was allegedly murdered by Lucy Letby with an intentional injection of air into the bloodstream. Letby searched for her parents on Facebook after her death.
• Child E-Victim Child E went on to suffer significant blood loss later in the evening. Following Child E’s, death in the early hours of August 4th, the Crown said Letby made “fraudulent” nursing notes which were “false, misleading and designed to cover her tracks”. She repeatedly searched for the family on social media after his death.
• Child F- Survivor, the day after allegedly murdering child E, Lucy Letby allegedly used insulin for the first time to poison a baby, the court heard, by trying to murder child E’s twin brother, child F.
• Child G-Survivor, in the mid-afternoon a nurse responded to Letby’s shout for ‘help’, Others noticed the monitor had been switched off, while the child was struggling to breathe. Child G, was left “severely disabled” as a result of the first two episodes.
• Child H-Survivor, Letby is accused of attempting to murder child H on two successive night shifts in September 2015. The child suffered two "profound collapses" and required resuscitation with the use of adrenaline. No clear cause for either incident was identified at the time. Child H, was transferred to another hospital, where she dramatically improved.
• Child I- Victim, an expert pediatrician who reviewed child I’s case had concluded the youngster’s deteriorations were consistent with the deliberate administration of a large amount of air into her stomach via a nasogastric tube. Letby later sent a sympathy card to the parents and made Facebook searches for the family.
• Child J- Victim, an independent medical expert who reviewed child J’s case said it was “of concern and consistent with some form of obstruction of her airways, such as smothering”. Letby searched for the child's family on Facebook the next month.
• Child K- Victim, she was assisting the baby with her breathing and it was found child K’s breathing tube had this time slipped too far into her throat.
• Child L- Victim, by giving them an unauthorized dose of insulin and while that attack was under way she turned her attentions to child M by administering air into his circulation.
• Child M- Victim, when Lucy Letby’s home in Chester was searched two years later, a number of medical notes were found which detailed how many doses of adrenaline were given to child M during his collapse. A note of his collapse was also recorded in her diary, the court heard.
• Child N- Victim, the blood in child N’s mouth was a result of the “thrusting” of a tube into the back of his throat to inflict injury, the court heard.
• Child O- Victim, had fatally received excessive amounts of air into the bloodstream and through a nasogastric tube.
• Child P- Victim, the infant had air injected into his stomach by Letby which compromised his breathing killing him.
• Child Q- Survivor of Attempted Murder. Letby injected the infant with excess air and a clear fluid, possibly water or saline, into his stomach via a nasogastric tube in a bid to murder him.

The Informal Investigation

An informal review conducted in June, 2015 by a consultant at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. This investigation revealed troubling details regarding four unexplained collapses that occurred in the same unit. Three of these cases resulted in deaths in the same month. Lucy Letby just happen to be on duty during these collapses and deaths. Even though the consultants immediately reported these deaths to the trust's committee responsible for addressing serious incidents. The committee classified the deaths as medication errors of which hindered the investigation from becoming a police matter.

The numbers of unexplained collapses were particularly alarming. Per previous hospital records there had only been three deaths in the ward before Letby joined the team. Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, who later led the investigation, was told by two medical consultants that baby collapses which occurred during the spike had been unexpected and could not be explained, both of which were not usual with infant collapses in general.

The Hospital Hindered a Police Investigation

A ward manager conducted her own review during the month of October, 2015, in which Lucy Letby was the only staff member consistently present throughout these incidents of unexplained collapses and deaths. These findings were relayed to upper management to no avail. Further concerns were voiced to management by the unit's consultants that same month; concerns were either resisted by the Trust Executives or ignored. In February, 2016 the lead neonatologist, along with other consultants, concluded a thematic review investigating five unexplained deaths and collapses within the unit. Their investigation determined that the only common factor in these cases was the presence of Letby. The lead neonatologist contacted the unit manager, the hospital's medical director and the director of nursing, requesting an urgent meeting. A meeting did take place in May, 2016. The executive team deemed the spike in deaths to be coincidental and no substantial action was taken.

It was discovered that the neonatal death total in 2015, doubled that of the previous year. The culprit was considered to be Letby. Following the deaths of two triplet babies in 2016, the lead neonatologist phoned the duty executive demanding that Letby be removed from the unit. The duty executive insisted that Letby was safe to work with infants. In late June 2016, physicians on the ward insisted that Lucy Letby be removed from duty pending a police investigation. The executives insisted Letby’s involvement were largely circumstantial and they suspected certain doctors of embarking on a misguided witch-hunt of Letby. The executives were concerned about potential harm to the hospital’s reputation resulting from a police inquiry. The executives opted against engaging the police. The physicians on the ward were made to send apology letters to Lucy Letby.

Lady Justice

Lucy Letby was finally charged in November, 2020 with eight counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder. On the day of her arrest she was due to return to work the following day. Her trial lasted almost a year and it was revealed that Letby's methods included injecting the infants with air or insulin. She also would overfeed them while physically abusing them with medical tools. Letby removed over 250 confidential nursing handover sheets from her workplace which should never have left the hospital. Letby is suspected of falsifying patient records to avoid suspicion. She was sentence to life in prison with a whole term which means she will never be released. Letby is the most prolific serial killer of children in modern British history. It is suspected that she had many more victims at Liverpool Women’s Hospital where two infants died during her training. Management at the Countess of Chester Hospital were criticized for ignoring warnings about Letby that could have prevented some of the killings. The British Government has commissioned an independent statutory inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the murders. It has been reported that Lucy committed the murders to gain the attention of a physician that she was infatuated with at the Countess of Chester hospital.

Reference

Lucy Letby - Wikipedia

The text messages Lucy Letby sent as she murdered babies (bbc.com)

Lucy Letby: 'I am evil,' wrote British nurse found guilty of murdering seven babies in her care | CNN

Full list: the deaths and collapses Lucy Letby is accused of causing | Hereford Times

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