‘I killed them on purpose,’ British nurse found guilty of killing seven premature babies

British nurse Lucy Letby has been found guilty of the murder of seven premature babies and the attempted murder of six others by Manchester Crown Court in the north of England.

The 33-year-old medical professional worked at the Countess of Chester hospital in intensive care. Between June 2015 and June 2016, seven premature babies died suddenly for no apparent reason, sometimes within hours of each other. Another 10 babies were near death, but were able to be saved.

She has been accused of injecting babies with air intravenously, using nasogastric tubes to send air or an overdose of milk into their stomachs, as well as putting insulin in feeding bags, changing a breathing tube in one premature baby and overfeeding another. Sometimes he used several methods at the same time.

According to Judge James Goss, he appeared to be the only person on duty when the deaths occurred.

A statement from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said hospital doctors intervened during the trial, which had been taking place since last October. The woman was first arrested in July 2018 and charged in November 2020.

One of the most important pieces of evidence was the babies’ medical records demonstrating the rapid recovery, which showed that the ailments of the babies who survived could not have been natural. There were forged notes from Letby to hide his participation.

The nurse also wrote text and social media messages in which they coincided with the attacks on the neonatal ward. “Letby misled his colleagues into believing that these unexplained collapses were simply a natural worsening of the children’s underlying conditions,” it said.

A search of their house found notes with messages such as “I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to take care of them”; “I’m bad, I did this”; and “today is your birthday and you’re not here and I’m so sorry”.

Given the commotion the case has caused and questions about safety in the health sector, the government ordered an independent inquiry on Friday.

The defense described Letby as a “committed” professional. “My job was my life,” he stressed.

Prosecutor Nick Johnson painstakingly reassembled his organization, describing similar events among the dead.

The victims include twins and even triplets, two of whom died within 24 hours of each other after returning from Ibiza on holiday in June 2016. The third was saved because his parents begged to transfer him to another hospital.

After committing so many crimes without attracting attention, the nurse was “uncontrollable,” the prosecutor said. “He believed he was God.”

A very premature girl, attacked three times in September 2015, is severely disabled.

His attorney, Ben Myers, insisted that the hospital’s neonatal service “welcomed more babies than usual, with greater medical needs,” in 2015-2016, and had “failed” in its actions.

Letby will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on August 21.

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