Prosecutors believed the collapses and deaths of 17 babies were the work of nurse Lucy Letby. Photo / Supplied, File
Prosecutors believed the collapses and deaths of 17 babies were the work of nurse Lucy Letby. Photo / Supplied, File
Just months after killer nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of the murders of seven babies in her care, police are now looking at charging the hospital over the deaths and attempted murders of six others.
The 33-year-old former nurse was sentenced to a whole life order after she was convicted of the murders of the babies and the attempted murders of six others at the hospital’s neonatal unit in 2015 and 2016.
Now police have launched a corporate manslaughter investigation into the Countess of Chester Hospital for its alleged negligence in the deaths.
Detective Superintendent Simon Blackwell said the investigation would examine the period in which Letby carried out her killing spree - June 2015 to June 2016 - and examine the conduct of those in “senior leadership” positions at the hospital.
He said “no individuals” are currently being investigated for gross negligence manslaughter.
In the UK, organisations and companies can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter as a result of serious management failures resulting in a gross breach of a duty of care.
Lucy Letby is likely to spend her life behind bars at HMP Low Newton. Photo / HM Prisons
It was found that hospital bosses had as many as 10 opportunities to act on concerns that Letby was linked to a spike in deaths or collapses on the neo-natal ward before police were called in.
“Following the lengthy trial, subsequent conviction of Lucy Letby and an assessment by senior investigative officers, I can confirm that Cheshire Constabulary is carrying out an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the Countess of Chester Hospital,” Detective Superintendent Blackwell said.
“The investigation will focus on the indictment period of the charges for Lucy Letby, from June 2015 to June 2016, and consider areas including senior leadership and decision-making to determine whether any criminality has taken place.
“At this stage we are not investigating any individuals in relation to gross negligence manslaughter. The investigation is in the very early stages and we are unable to go into any further details or answer specific questions at this time.
“We recognise that this investigation will have a significant impact on a number of different stakeholders including the families in this case and we are continuing to work alongside and support them during this process.”
Jane Tomkinson OBE, the acting chief executive officer at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said in a statement after the police announcement: “We were deeply saddened and appalled at Lucy Letby’s crimes when the verdicts were delivered.
“Following the trial we have always maintained we will be supporting the ongoing investigation by Cheshire Police and will be cooperating fully with the investigation announced today so that we can help get the answers that the families and babies affected by this case rightly deserve.
“Cheshire Police have given us their assurance that they are providing ongoing support to the families, who remain at the forefront of our thoughts and efforts to support this investigation.
“It would not be appropriate for the Trust to make any further comment at this time.”
Letby lodged an appeal against her whole life order sentence last month. She is due to face a retrial next year on an outstanding charge of attempting to murder a baby girl.
The Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester, England, where Lucy Letby worked. Photo / AP
Typically, applications for permission to appeal against a crown court decision are considered by a judge without a hearing. If the bid is refused, the guilty parties have the right to renew their bid at a full court hearing before two or three judges.
Letby’s motives remain unclear, but the scale of her crimes pointed to intricate planning.
Letby, who refused to appear in court for her sentencing or to face an outpouring of anger and anguish from grieving parents, was accused of deliberately harming the babies in various ways, including by injecting air into their bloodstreams and administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes.
She was also accused of poisoning infants by adding insulin to intravenous feeds and interfering with breathing tubes.
Judge James Goss imposed a rare “whole-life order” on Letby, who he said acted with “malevolence bordering on sadism”.
Only three other women have received such a harsh sentence in the United Kingdom.
