Nurse charged in murder of eight babies, attempted murder of 10 at UK hospital


A British nurse was charged in the murder of eight babies and attempted murder of 10 others after being arrested for the third time in connection with the horrific crimes at a hospital’s neonatal unit since 2016, according to reports.

Lucy Letby, 30, who worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital, was arrested after a three-year probe that was launched after the facility raised an alarm about the large number of deaths there between March 2015 and July 2016, the Sun reported.

The nurse appeared via video link Thursday in Warrington Magistrates’ Court, where she was formally charged with eight counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder for the offenses, which took place between June 2015 and June 2016, according to the outlet.

Letby spoke only to confirm her name, date of birth and address during her appearance, during which the names of the eight dead babies were revealed — Cemlyn Bennett, Joseph Johnson, Elsie McNall, Barney Gee, Daisy Parkin, Maddie Freed, Joseph Gelder and Eli Gelde.


The hospital in Cheshire, southeast of Liverpool, conducted an internal inquiry when health care workers found that premature babies had suffered heart and lung failures, according to the outlet.

“The Crown Prosecution Service has authorized Cheshire Police to charge a healthcare professional with murder in connection with an ongoing investigation into a number of baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital,” according to a statement.


“Lucy Letby, of Arran Avenue, Hereford, is facing eight charges of murder and 10 charges of attempted murder,” it added.

After her arrest this week, police said the parents of all the victims have been kept apprised of the developments in the grisly case and were receiving emotional support from specially trained officers.


“A dedicated team of detectives have been working extremely hard on this highly complex and very sensitive case doing everything they can as quickly as they can to identify what has led to these baby deaths and collapses,” said Detective Chief Inspector Paul Hughes, who is in charge of the probe, the Sun reported.

“This is an extremely difficult time for all the families and it is important to remember that, at the heart of this, there are a number of bereaved families seeking answers as to what happened to their children,” he added.

Hospital CEO Dr. Susan Gilby said in a statement: “We acknowledge the new and significant development in this case, which is of serious concern to the Trust.

“We are fully supportive and respectful of the judicial processes and as such will not be making any further comments at this stage. Our thoughts continue to be with all the families involved,” she added, according to CNN.

The nurse was first arrested in July 2018 on suspicion of murder as investigators tied her to the deaths of eight babies and attempted murder of another six infants at the hospital.

Authorities had been investigating the deaths of 17 babies between 2015 and 2016, and another 16 “nonfatal collapses,” described as when an infant’s health severely declined but the child survived, according to local reports.


Letby had been out on bail since July 2018. After her prior arrests, police searched her home in the Blacon area of Chester, the Sun reported.

She worked at the neonatal unit as a student nurse during three years of training before qualifying as a children’s nurse and continued working at the unit after graduating, the Guardian reported.

One friend at the time, Jordan Sands, said “she was quite awkward and geeky but seemed like a kindhearted person.” Another called Letby “an amazing person.”

Letby also had been active in a $4 million fundraising campaign to build a new neonatal unit at the hospital, which experienced an unexplained mortality rate spike.

“I hope the new unit will provide a greater degree of privacy and space,” she told the Chester & District Standard in supporting the campaign.

Letby was remanded ahead of a hearing at Chester Crown Court on Friday.