Lucy Letby sentenced to another whole life order for attempted murder of baby

Killer nurse Lucy Letby said “I’m innocent” after she was handed another whole life order for the attempted murder of an extremely premature baby.

The 34-year-old was found guilty by a jury earlier this week following a retrial at Manchester Crown Court.

She was already serving 14 whole life orders after being convicted last year of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

However, the jury in her original trial had been unable to reach a verdict on the charge that she also attempted to murder a premature baby, known as Baby K, in February 2016.

During the retrial, the prosecution said Letby had displaced the baby’s breathing tube and had been caught “virtually red-handed” when a doctor walked into the room.

After the baby recovered, her tube was displaced two more times that night, the prosecution said, alleging Letby had tried to make it appear like the infant habitually displaced it herself.

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The baby, who had been born at 25 weeks gestation, was transferred to a specialist neo-natal unit but died three days later.

Letby’s actions were not alleged to have caused her death.

However, Senior Crown Prosecutor Nicola Wyn Williams, of CPS Mersey-Cheshire’s Complex Casework Unit, said after the verdict that Letby carried out the actions of a “cold-blooded, calculated killer” when she tried to murder Baby K.

In a statement after Letby was handed another whole life sentence today, Ms Williams said: “This has been an incredibly difficult, complex and disturbing case. A trained nurse tasked with looking after the most vulnerable babies used her craft and her skills to become a killer.

“She stood by as the parents of the babies she had killed or tried to kill, grieved and pretended to try and comfort them, all along knowing she was the person responsible.

“The savagery of her actions has been difficult for the prosecution team to comprehend and has devastated the lives of the families of these babies.

“We still have no idea why she committed these crimes.”

Letby denied during the retrial that she had ever intended or tried to harm any baby in her care.

She said she had no recollection of the incident with Baby K but said: “I know I did nothing to interfere.”

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Letby was asked about Facebook searches she made for Baby K’s surname more than two years after she left the neonatal unit.

She had also searched for the parents of other babies she was convicted of murdering or attempting to murder.

Letby denied having a fascination with the families or looking for signs of their grief.

She told the jury: “I’m not guilty of what I’ve been found guilty of.”

The parents of Baby K gasped and then cried when the verdict was read out on Tuesday after the jury deliberated for just three-and-a-half hours.

Letby showed no emotion in the dock.

A public inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit will begin to hear evidence in September.

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