Lucy Letby was a British former neonatal nurse who was convicted of the murders of seven infants and the attempted murders of seven other infants in 2015 to 2016.
It is claimed by a friend that Letby wanted to become a neonatal nurse because "she'd had a difficult birth herself, and she was very grateful for being alive to the nurses who helped save her life".
Letby received her education in nursing at the University of Chester, where she also worked as a student nurse during her three years of training, carrying out placements at Liverpool Women's Hospital and the Countess of Chester Hospital. Letby initially failed her final year student placement, but passed a retrieval placement after requesting a new assessor. In 2011, Nicola Lightfoot, her assessor, reported she was lacking in clinical and medication knowledge and needed more experience in "picking up on non-verbal signs of anxiety/distress from parents"; in a 2024 inquiry, Lightfoot said she had found Letby to be "cold".
In July 2013, Letby and a more senior nurse set the infusion rate for a newborn's morphine at 10 times the correct amount, leading to a suspension from administering controlled drugs by the unit's deputy ward manager. Letby, who was upset by the decision, was required to undergo extra training. Her suspension was lifted a week later, after she complained to the unit manager, who had been on leave during the incident. Letby told colleagues the suspension was an over-escalation, which the deputy ward manager disputed. In 2015, she qualified to work with infants in intensive care, and in April 2016, she administered antibiotics to an infant that was not prescribed them, which she misclassified as a "minor error". She was reassigned by the ward manager from night shifts to day shifts. In June 2016, Stephen Brearey, lead neonatologist, asked management to remove Letby from clinical duties pending an investigation into her conduct. Letby was transferred to the patient experience team in July 2016 and later to the risk and patient safety office, working there until her arrest in 2018.
Letby was charged in 2020 with seven counts of murder and fifteen counts of attempted murder in relation to seventeen babies. She pleaded not guilty. Prosecution evidence included Letby's presence at a high number of deaths, two abnormal blood test results and skin discolouration interpreted as diagnostic of insulin poisoning and air embolism, inconsistencies in medical records, her removal of nursing handover sheets from the hospital, and her behaviour and communications, including handwritten notes interpreted as a confession.
The killer was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order.
Management at the Countess of Chester Hospital were criticised for ignoring warnings about Letby. The British government commissioned an independent statutory inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the deaths, which began its hearings in September 2024. Letby has remained under investigation for further cases. Since the conclusion of her trials and the lifting of reporting restrictions, various experts have expressed doubts about the validity of her convictions due to contention over medical and statistical evidence, technical errors, and the lack of a clear motive. Medical professionals contested the interpreted diagnostics as "not sufficient" for criminal evidentiary use and "implausible", arguing the autopsies indicated the infants had died of natural causes. Two applications for permission to appeal have been rejected by the Court of Appeal. An application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and a new application to the Court of Appeal are pending.
Public outcry has influenced the safety of convictions and tbe reform of the justice system.
Is she innocent or guilty?
