Detectives examining the crimes of serial killer Lucy Letby are investigating the collapses of 12 babies after evidence of “malevolent” involvement, it has been reported.
Cheshire Constabulary has said it will sift through more than 4,000 admissions of babies at neonatal units at the two hospitals Letby worked at as a nurse to see if any opportunities to stop her were missed.
According to The Times, notes of 12 new cases where babies suffered unexplained collapses have been handed to police medical experts who concluded some of them indicated “malevolent” acts.
All 12 babies were said to have survived and did not form part of Letby’s 10-month trial in which she was found guilty of murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of six others.
Letby was sentenced to a whole life order on Monday at Manchester Crown Court for crimes that showed a “deep malevolence bordering on sadism,” according to judge Mr Justice Goss.
Cheshire Constabulary declined to comment when asked about the 12 cases.
Traumatised colleagues
Colleagues of Letby who appeared as prosecution witnesses in her trial are said to have been interviewed in relation to other suspicious incidents.
Some nurses have been left traumatised by the knowledge they unknowingly worked alongside, and were friends with, Britain’s most prolific baby killer.
In the weeks before Letby was convicted of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of a further six, the Telegraph reached out to her former colleagues but none who were approached were willing to detail their association with the 33-year-old.
When asked why the group continued to remain silent, one senior nurse replied: “It’s too traumatising. We just can’t talk about it.”
Speaking after Letby’s conviction Det Supt Paul Hughes said investigators would scrutinise the “entire footprint” of Letby’s nursing career.
The 33-year-old worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she was on placements.
Asked about the number of new cases being looked at, Det Supt Hughes said: “At this stage it is impossible for us to provide a figure. From 2012 through to 2016, there were more than 4,000 admissions of babies into the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital for us to work through.
“This does not mean we are investigating all 4,000, it just means that we are committed to a thorough review of every admission from a medical perspective, to ensure that nothing is missed throughout the entirety of her employment as a nurse.
“Only those cases highlighted as concerning medically will be investigated further.”
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