On Monday, British prosecutors stated in court that a neonatal nurse killed seven babies and attempted to kill 10 more. They allege that she killed two infants by poisoning them purposely with insulin.
32-year-old Lucy Letby is facing murder charges in the deaths of five baby boys and two girls. She is also charged with attempted murder of five boys and five girls. This was as she was employed at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016.
Letby has pleaded not guilty to the offenses.
Prosecutors say that in 2015, there was a rise in the numbers of babies who were dying or experiencing “serious catastrophic collapses.”
When doctors weren’t able to figure out the cause, authorities were called in. A review noted that someone in the neonatal unit had poisoned two infant boys with insulin two days following their births. The boys’ blood sugar levels had gone down to a dangerous amount; however, both survived following assistance from medical workers.
Officials say that Letby had been working when the boys were poisoned. They think that the collapses and deaths of all 17 babies were because of Letby. She was described as a “constant malevolent presence,” at the medical facility’s neonatal unit when the incidents occured.
The first infant that is said to have died because of Letby was a premature baby boy who was killed a day after coming into the world in June 2015.
Authorities say that Letby injected air into the bloodstream of the baby, and a medical examiner determined that the air was administered purposely “by someone who knew it would cause significant harm.”
Letby’s trial will probably last for weeks, if not months.
In May 2017, authorities began an investigation into the deaths of numerous babies at the hospital. Letby was apprehended three times in relation to the deaths prior to her being charged in November 2020.
