A neonatal nurse in a British hospital has been found guilty of killing 7 babies

A British hospital’s neonatal nurse, Lucy Letby, 33, was convicted of murdering seven infants, including five boys and two girls, and attempting to murder eleven others during her time at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016. Accusations against her ranged from injecting air into the babies’ bloodstreams and feeding air or milk via nasogastric tubes to poisoning them with insulin and tampering with their breathing tubes.

After 22 days of deliberation, a jury composed of seven women and four men reached the verdict. The jury had the option to agree with a 10-person consensus following the excusal of one juror due to personal reasons. Letby was found not guilty on one charge of attempted murder, and the jury was unable to come to a conclusion on several other charges.

Earlier verdicts were announced in court during the month, but reporting on them was prohibited until deliberations were complete. Letby was visibly emotional during the proceedings, and she chose not to be present in the courtroom as additional verdicts were announced.

Prosecutors painted a grim picture during the long trial that began the previous October, highlighting a significant spike in infant deaths and sudden health deteriorations at the hospital in 2015. They portrayed Letby as a relentless malevolent force within the neonatal unit, harming infants in ways that left little evidence, and convincing colleagues that such occurrences were normal.

The case dates back to the death of a premature boy in June 2015, where it was alleged that Letby injected air into his bloodstream. An investigation was initiated in May 2017, leading to Letby’s arrest thrice before she was finally charged in November 2020.

A particular piece of evidence, a Post-It note at Letby’s home where she wrote, “I am evil, I did this,” was referred to as a literal confession by prosecutors.

Her defense team, however, painted her as a diligent and compassionate nurse and suggested that other factors such as natural causes, staff shortages, or failures in care could explain the incidents. They even claimed that senior doctors placed blame on Letby to conceal shortcomings in the unit.

Letby herself took the stand for 14 days, emphatically denying any intentional harm to the babies, expressing her commitment to care for them, and defending her at-home collection of medical records.

Though she penned self-loathing notes like, “I don’t deserve to live,” and, “I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them,” her lawyer interpreted these writings as signs of a woman who had lost faith in herself, rather than confessions of guilt.

In the defense’s view, the notes, such as one that read “not good enough,” were private expressions of anguish rather than evidence for the court or police. The trial thus revealed complex layers of emotion, guilt, and blame that extended beyond the horrifying charges against Letby.

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