Letby found guilty of attempting to murder another baby
Former nurse Lucy Letby has been described as a “cold-blooded, calculated killer” as she is found guilty of trying to murder another baby on the neonatal unit where she worked.
The 34-year-old has been on retrial for the last four weeks over the attempted murder of a premature baby girl known as Baby K.
“These were the actions of a cold-blooded, calculated killer”
Nicola Wyn Williams
Letby is already serving a whole-life sentence after being found guilty in August 2023 of murdering seven babies and trying to murder six others while working as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
However, the jury in that original trial was unable to reach a verdict on the attempted murder charge related to Baby K.
But today at Manchester Crown Court, Letby was convicted of that offence by a new jury of six women and six men.
Letby had denied the charge, as she has done with all others that she has been accused and convicted of.
Baby K was born at the Countess of Chester Hospital at 2.12am on 17 February 2016 at just 25 weeks gestation and she was placed on ventilation to help her breathe.
The prosecution argued that Letby deliberately dislodged the baby’s breathing tube on three separate occasions in the hours immediately after her birth.
The jury heard evidence from consultant Dr Ravi Jayaram, who found Letby standing by Baby K’s cot and doing nothing as the child’s condition was rapidly deteriorating.
Baby K was transferred to Arrowe Park Hospital, part of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, but died in her parents’ arms on 20 February 2016.
While the baby’s death could not be directly attributed to Letby, the jury was convinced that the former nurse had attempted to kill her.
Senior crown prosecutor Nicola Wyn Williams, of the Crown Prosecution Service’s complex casework unit for Merseyside and Cheshire, said: “These were the actions of a cold-blooded, calculated killer.
“The grief that the family of Baby K have felt is unimaginable. Our thoughts remain with them and all those affected by this case at this time.”
Letby will be sentenced on Friday, 5 July 2024 at Manchester Crown Court.
