by Mick the Ram

Serial baby killer Lucy Letby, who was sentenced to 15 whole-life orders when found guilty in August 2023, is now being investigated for her possible involvement in additional deaths.

The nurse was convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murder of seven more between 2015 and 2016, at the Countess of Chester hospital in Cheshire.

She has now been interviewed under caution as part of an inquiry called “Operation Hummingbird” which is looking into more infant deaths that she could be responsible for during two work placements she received at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

The force said more information would be released “at the appropriate time”, but meanwhile, a separate public probe called the “Thirlwall Inquiry” which is looking closely at all Letby’s crimes, and the circumstances around them, is continuing.

This investigation aims to discover precisely how the killer was able to go undetected for so long, and once the findings are clear, then make recommendations on how to prevent a similar series of events happening in future.

Letby became only the fourth UK woman to receive a whole-life order, which essentially means she will never be released from prison and after being denied permission twice, she can now only challenge her convictions if the Criminal Cases Review Commission refer those cases back to the Court of Appeal.

Still denying her guilt

The now 34-year-old’s lawyer, Mark McDonald, insisted that his client had voluntarily attended a police interview at the prison and there had not been any subsequent arrest.

He went on to add: “Lucy continues to maintain her innocence”. That despite overwhelming evidence being presented at her trial against her.

Her time at Liverpool hospital now under scrutiny

The new investigation has unearthed further potentially life-threatening incidents which had occurred on nearly one third of Letby’s shifts when she undertook two work placements in Liverpool.

She had trained as a student and one particular case discovered from  November 2012, showed a baby boy had collapsed and water was later found in his breathing tube – something which was highly unusual. Clinical notes confirmed that the nurse looking after him was Letby.

Evidence also came to light of another baby boy, who was poisoned with insulin whilst in Letby’s care at the Countess of Chester Hospital, but this had not been included in her original trial.

Breathing tubes deliberately dislodged

It is understood that in September of this year, a barrister representing the families of 12 babies said Liverpool Women’s Hospital had conducted its own audit into Letby’s time there.

Richard Baker KC explained how babies breathing tubes were dislodged at an incredibly “unusual rate” when Letby was on shift.

The percentages were alarming to the point of being implausible, with about 40% occurring when Letby was present compared to the norm of less than 1% over any given period.

Ten month trial

When her trial began at Manchester Crown Court, on 10 October 2022 it attracted huge media attention, which continued right up to its conclusion on 23 August 2023.

Letby was found guilty of the murder of seven babies in her care and the attempted murder of a six others. In total 17 cases were investigated and it emerged that Lucy Letby was the common denominator in every one of them.

Judge slams the cold calculating killer

Mr Justice Goss, ordered that she serve whole-life orders on all the guilty verdicts, after hearing how the nurse had deliberately injected babies with air intravenously and administered air and/or milk into the stomach via nasogastric tubes.

The judge labelled her calculating and cunning in her actions, which he said bordered on the sadistic. He also remarked how she had shown no remorse by coldly denying any responsibility for her wrongdoings.

In bad company

She joined a notorious trio of women who had, until Letby’s conviction, been the only three woman in UK history to receive whole-life orders in sentencing.

Myra Hindley, Rose West, and Joanna Dennehy are the women she now shares that dubious title with; all four being handed the most severe punishment available in the country’s criminal justice system, reserved for those who commit the most monstrous of crimes.

Letby is currently in HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, which caters for category A women prisoners.