Detectives investigating the collapse of a further 12 babies at the hospital where murderous nurse Lucy Letby worked have found evidence of ‘malicious acts’.
Letby, 33, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others.
Following the verdict, Cheshire Police announced they would be examining records of 4,000 babies admitted during her tenure as a nurse as part of Operation Hummingbird, the years-long investigation that led to Letby’s conviction.
A source close to the investigation has claimed that notes of a dozen babies who inexplicably collapsed in the hospital have been passed on to experts.
Experts concluded that several of the near misses contained indications of “malicious” involvement. The times reports.
Lucy Letby is first arrested in July 2018 as part of Operation Hummingbird, Cheshire Police’s investigation into child mortality at Countess of Chester Hospital
Letby started working at Countess of Chester Hospital in 2012 and remained on wards until she was suspended from clinical duties in 2016.
She trained at Liverpool Women’s Hospital in 2012 and 2015. Cheshire Police are investigating the cases of 4,000 babies admitted to both hospitals as part of the ‘second phase’ of Operation Hummingbird
A police mugshot of baby killer Lucy Letby. Police are investigating other incidents of baby collapses that may have happened under their watch
All of the babies survived their close calls and none were involved in Letby’s trial, which closed last week after jurors heard 10 months’ worth of traumatic evidence linked to the nurse’s heinous crimes.
Letby committed her murders and attempts on the lives of babies between June 2015 and June 2016 while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
However, between October and December 2012 and January and February 2015, she also trained at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
Admissions at both hospitals are being considered by detectives as part of Operation Hummingbird, which is now said to be in a ‘second phase’ after Letby’s convictions were secured.
Parents have already raised that their children may have suffered under Letby’s callous care.
Among them are Mike and Victoria Whitfield, who said the nurse stood “silently” over their daughter Felicity’s bed at Countess of Chester Hospital before her lung collapsed.
The Times also reports that nurses who appeared as prosecution witnesses at Letby’s trial have been interviewed about other incidents that allegedly occurred while the nurse was still allowed to walk the corridors of the neonatal wards.
One said she was questioned by officers about three unexplained collapses at the Countess of Chester, including one believed to have occurred in 2012 – the year Letby arrived.
There have been calls for bosses at the Countess of Chester to be charged with corporate manslaughter amid allegations that concerns about Letby’s behavior in departments were being swept under the carpet.
Dr. Nigel Scawn, director of the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said after the ruling: ‘Our staff are devastated by what has happened and we want to make sure lessons are learned.’
The Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust says it has maintained contact with Cheshire Police throughout this investigation and will continue to do so going forward.
Letby was handed down 14 life sentences on Monday by Judge Justice Goss, who condemned the “cruelty and callousness” of Britain’s worst child serial killer in modern times.
In his damning verdict on the sentencing — which Letby refused to come to court to hear — the judge said Letby had shown “premeditation, calculation and cunning” in her actions.
She used a variety of methods on her victims, from injecting air into their bloodstreams to poisoning them with insulin. In some cases, she gave them too much milk or caused blunt trauma.
The insensitive nurse all along tried to cover her tracks by participating in unsuccessful resuscitation attempts and expressing doubts about her ability to care for babies alongside her colleagues.
Lucy Letby tried to cover her tracks by writing condolence cards (left) and voicing doubts about her abilities to colleagues. But privately, she wrote twisted notes (right), including one that read, “I’m bad, I did this”
Friends and colleagues are still wrestling with the idea that Letby – dubbed ‘the innocent’ by friends – is a baby killer
She even sent messages of condolence to the grieving parents to whom she had inflicted such excruciating pain.
In several instances, she went online to find the grieving parents of her victims, developing a morbid fascination with their heartbreak after choosing to play God with their children’s lives.
Mr Justice Goss added: ‘Newborn or relatively newborn babies’ lives have been ended almost as soon as they began and lifelong damage has been done, all in appalling conditions.
“Loving parents have been deprived of their beloved children and others must live with the physical and mental consequences of your actions. Siblings are deprived of siblings.
“You have caused deep psychological trauma, created lasting grief and guilt, strained relationships, and disrupted the lives of all the families of all your victims.
“In aggregate, the crimes of murder and attempted murder were of exceptionally high severity and just punishment requires, by law, a life sentence.”
Cheshire Police have promised to carry out a full investigation into the ‘full footprint’ of Letby’s career.
Superintendent Paul Hughes said: ‘The Operation Hummingbird team are committed to a full and thorough investigation into the entire period Lucy Letby worked as a nurse, either while she was at the Countess of Chester Hospital or during her posting at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital. Hospital. .
“This investigation remains ongoing, through a transparent and unbiased process.
“The families of all babies included in this study have been informed and supported.
“We will of course provide a more detailed update when we can.”
An excerpt from Lucy Letby’s diary appears to show coded messages she wrote marking the deaths of babies in her care
DS Hughes, who led the investigation into Letby, has tried to make it clear that not every confession under Letby is treated with suspicion.
He added: ‘From 2012 to 2016 there were over 4,000 admissions of babies to the neonatal wards at both Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital that we had to work through.
“This doesn’t mean we’re investigating all 4,000. It just means that we are committed to a thorough review of every admission from a medical perspective, to make sure nothing is missed throughout her tenure as a nurse.
“Only those cases identified as being of medical concern will be investigated further.”