The trial of Lucy Letby began on 10 October 2022, and the widespread coverage of the allegations against the neonatal nurse has many asking who is Lucy Letby?
Lucy Letby, 32, who first appeared in court this week, is accused of murdering seven babies during her time working as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester hospital – charges which she denies.
As the trial gets underway at Manchester Crown Court, high profile coverage from the media has meant the details of Letby’s 22 charges have become widespread knowledge.
And the proceedings have left many asking who is Lucy Letby, what is she alleged to have done and where is she now?
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Who is Lucy Letby
Lucy Letby was a children’s neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital, in Cheshire.
What is Lucy Letby accused of?
Lucy Letby is being accused of murdering seven babies – five boys and two girls – and attempting to murder ten more between mid 2015 and mid 2016.
In some instances, Letby is accused of attempting to murder the same infant multiple times, and she faces a total of 22 charges concerning the 17 babies – she has pled not guilty to each count.
What happened to Lucy Letby.
Nick Johnson KC opened the prosecution on the morning of Monday 10 October, saying: “Prior to January 2015, the statistics for the mortality of babies in the neo-natal unit at the Countess of Chester were comparable to other like units. However, over the next 18 months or so, there was a significant rise in the number of babies who were dying and in the number of serious catastrophic collapses.
“Having searched for a cause, which they were unable to find, the consultants noticed that the inexplicable collapses and deaths did have one common denominator – the presence of one of the neonatal nurses, and that nurse was Lucy Letby.”
Mr Johnson also told the court that as medics could not account for the collapses and deaths, police were called in and conducted a “painstaking review”, which suggested that somebody in the neonatal unit poisoned two children with insulin.
The court heard that two more children were harmed – and one was killed – by having air injected into the bloodstream.
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Where is Lucy Letby now?
Lucy Letby is currently on trial at Manchester Crown Court. The trial commenced on Monday 10 October, and the jury has been told the it may last up to six months.
In 2020, Letby appeared at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on November 12, to face all charges which relate to the year from June 2015 to June 2016. In May 2021, the date was set for her trial, at a case management hearing at Liverpool Crown Court.
Lucy Letby: The trial so far.
The prosecution opened the case with Nick Johnson KC describing Letby as “a poisoner” and citing the significant rise in infant mortality rates, saying “sometimes babies who had been sick and then on the mend deteriorated for no apparent reason.”
The court was told that when Lucy Letby worked on the night shift, there was a rise in deaths and collapses, and when she was moved to the day shift the unusual deaths and collapses rose then instead.
The prosecution said two babies – Child F and Child L – were “poisoned” by Letby “deliberately with insulin”, and describes Letby as a “constant malevolent presence”.
The court heard that Children E and M were then harmed – and in the case of Child E killed – after air was injected into their bloodstream.
The court heard how a chart which outlines the presence of staff at the times the 17 babies affected were attacked showed that Letby was on shift when all the babies were allegedly harmed.
Nick Johnson KC said in some cases it took Letby up to three attempts before she managed to kill her victim.
The court heard that Child A was pronounced dead within 90 minutes of Letby coming onto shift, with one medical expert concluding his collapse was “consistent” with a “deliberate injection”.
The court heard there was evidence on Letby’s computer that she had looked up the families of her alleged victims on Facebook.
Mr Johnson told the court: “As soon as children were removed from the Countess of Chester Hospital, and the sphere of Lucy Letby, they often suddenly and remarkably recovered.”
The court heard that Letby allegedly tried to kill Child I four times ‘before succeeding’.
The court heard that a paediatric consultant began to feel “uncomfortable” because he was “beginning to notice the coincidence between the unexplained deaths/serious collapses and the presence of Lucy Letby”.
The court was shown an image of Letby’s diary from the time, in which she had made a note of an incident where brain damage was found in a scan of Child M.
The prosecution alleged Letby murdered two out of three triplets – these are Children O and P.
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