Killer nurse Lucy Letby convicted of attempting to murder another neonatal baby
ITV Granada's Emma Sweeney reports from Manchester Crown Court
A jury retrying the killer nurse Lucy Letby has found her guilty of a further offence of attempting to murder a baby.
Letby, 34, was convicted in August 2023 of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
She was handed a whole life sentence.
A verdict on the allegation concerning Child K could not be reached and a retrial was ordered on that single count.
A bid to throw out the attempted murder charge was refused by the judge ahead of the retrial.
Letby was said to have targeted Child K in the early hours of 17 February 2016 after the infant was moved from the delivery room to the neonatal unit shortly after her birth.
Born three months premature, the baby weighed just 1lb, 8oz.
The prosecution at Manchester Crown Court said Letby deliberately interfered with Child K's breathing tube through which she was being ventilated with air and oxygen
The jury was told that consultant paediatrician Dr Ravi Jayaram caught the nurse "virtually red-handed" as he entered the unit's intensive care room and he then went on to intervene and resuscitate Child K.
Letby told the jury of six women and six men she had no recollection of any such event.
She denied doing anything harmful to Child K and added that she did not commit any of the offences of which she has been convicted.
Child K was transferred to a specialist hospital later on February 17 because of her extreme prematurity.
She died there three days later, although the prosecution did not allege that Letby caused her death.
After attempting to murder baby K, Letby went onto murder a further two babies and attempted to murder two more.
Letby, of Hereford had denied attempted murder.
Trial judge Mr Justice Goss told Letby: "Having been convicted of this offence of attempted murder you will be sentenced for it.
"That sentencing hearing is on Friday morning and you will be here for that.
"Obviously you are serving a whole life sentence in any event."
Dr Nigel Scawn, medical director at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Baby K. We are extremely sorry that these awful crimes happened at our hospital.
"Since Lucy Letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services and remain committed to providing high quality safe care to our local communities."
Senior Crown Prosecutor Nicola Wyn Williams, of CPS Mersey-Cheshire’s Complex Casework Unit, said: “Our case included direct evidence from a doctor who walked into the nursery to find a very premature baby desaturating with Letby standing by, taking no action to help or to raise the alarm. She had deliberately dislodged the breathing tube in an attempt to kill her.
“Staff at the unit had to think the unthinkable – that one of their own was deliberately harming and killing babies in their care.
“Letby dislodged the tube a further two times over the following few hours in an attempt to cover her tracks and suggest that the first dislodgment was accidental. These were the actions of a cold-blooded, calculated killer.
“The grief that the family of Baby K have felt is unimaginable. Our thoughts remain with them and all those affected by this case at this time.”
Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans, of Cheshire Police, said: "This has been a long and painful journey for the parents of Baby K - having to face continual denials and sitting through very personal and upsetting evidence in the original trial and again at the retrial.
"Their courage, strength and resilience is absolutely remarkable.
"I would like to thank them for continuing to put their faith in us and I hope that the conclusion today provides them with some peace of mind and some of the answers they have been searching for."
A court order prohibits reporting of the identities of the surviving and dead children involved in the case.
Gamal Fahnbulleh joins Mel Barham and Emma Sweeney on the thisepisode of From the North to look at how Lucy Letby managed to slip under the radar for so long, carrying out her attacks unchallenged for a year.