The deaths of at least two more babies are being investigated by detectives as part of the ongoing police investigation into serial child killer Lucy Letby.
The former neonatal nurse was convicted of murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital during a 13-month killing spree between June 2015 and June 2016.
But a further ten children died in the same period – six at the Countess and four in neonatal units elsewhere, after being transferred to other NHS hospitals for more specialist care.
A document published by the legal team at the Thirlwall Inquiry, the public inquiry into Letby’s crimes, revealed that all 17 deaths have been reviewed by Cheshire Constabulary, but only two remain under investigation.
The document summary states: ‘Two of the deaths that occurred in a neonatal unit (either at the Countess of Chester Hospital or in another post-transfer neonatal unit) remain the subject of an ongoing police investigation.’
The document does not explain exactly when in 2015 or 2016, or where the two child deaths under investigation occurred.
Cheshire Police have pledged to investigate the cases of all 4,000 babies Letby treated during the ‘footprint’ of her five-year career at the Countess and Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she trained as a student.
Last month, detectives confirmed they had visited Letby, 35, in prison to interview her on suspicion of murder and harming further children.
The former neonatal nurse was convicted of murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital during a 13-month killing spree between June 2015 and June 2016.
The public inquiry into Letby’s crimes found that all 17 deaths have been investigated by Cheshire Constabulary, but only two remain under investigation.
Police declined to comment on the document and previously declined to reveal exactly how many specific cases Letby – one of only four women to be sentenced to life imprisonment in British legal history – was questioned about.
But sources have told the Mail that any charges will not be brought until ‘well into the new year’.
Last year, Dr. Stephen Brearey, the senior pediatrician at the Countess’s neonatal unit, told the public inquiry that he believes Letby ‘probably’ murdered or assaulted more babies before killing her first victim, in June 2015.
He said he has suspicions about other deaths and collapses that staff at the time believed were normal or of natural causes.
Letby was on duty, or had previously worked the shift, for 12 of the 13 baby deaths that occurred at the Countess of Chester Hospital between March 2015 and July 2016.
She was convicted of the murders of seven children and found guilty of attempting to kill seven others who inexplicably collapsed, including a child she had attacked twice in the same period.
One of her attempted murder victims, Baby K, died after being taken to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral just days after Letby deliberately disconnected her breathing tube.
She was initially charged with Baby K’s murder, but prosecutors downgraded the crime to attempted murder before the original trial began in October 2023, fearing they could not prove Letby’s attack caused the child’s subsequent death causes.
A sign outside the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester where Letby worked
Letby was on duty, or had previously been on duty, for 12 of the 13 baby deaths that occurred at the Countess of Chester Hospital between March 2015 and July 2016
Screen capture taken from body worn camera footage released by Cheshire Constabulary of Lucy Letby’s arrest
The remaining nine babies who died in 2015 and 2016 – who did not appear in the criminal trial – are also included in the legal team’s summary document.
Details listed include cause of death recorded at post-mortem or cause of death recorded, citing various congenital conditions or abnormalities.
Dr. Dewi Evans, the prosecution’s former key witness at Letby’s original trial, previously told the Mail he was concerned about the deaths of at least three children and the collapses of as many as 15 others, including one who may have been poisoned with insulin and which was not included in the list. the original complaint.
He said he suspected Letby was experimenting with moving babies’ breathing tubes as a method of causing damage before she began injecting air into their bloodstreams, or into their bellies through their nasogastric tubes in an attempt to kill.
“One thing we can be reasonably certain of is that Lucy Letby didn’t show up for work one day and decided to inject a baby with air into the bloodstream,” he said.
“I think the modus operandi evolved over time and I think the repositioning of the tube before the air embolism was probably something that she did.”
Dr. Rachel Lambie, who worked as a clerk to the Countess, has also told the inquiry that about a fortnight before Letby murdered her first victim, known as Baby A, in June 2015, another ‘very, very unusual event’ occurred at the department .
Although she did not go into details, the doctor confirmed that she has since made a statement to investigators about the incident.
The study found that babies’ breathing tubes became loose during 40 percent of shifts. Letby worked at Liverpool Women’s Hospital between October and December 2012 and January and February 2015.
According to the BBC, babies suffered potentially life-threatening incidents during almost a third of the 33 shifts she worked during her training at the Liverpool Trust.
In one case, from November 2012, a little boy in Letby’s care collapsed and water was later discovered in his breathing tube, which experts say is highly irregular.
Letby, from Hereford, maintains her innocence and has twice applied, but failed, to have her convictions thrown out by the Court of Appeal. She is serving fifteen life sentences and will die in prison.