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Car Talk / Re: Demystifying CNG in Automobiles by Soknown: 9:02am On Oct 28, 2023
Another downsides is we have very few Gas stations. The only one I know in the Southwest is the one adjacent to MFM on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
We need more filling stations.

4 Likes 1 Share

Career / Re: A White Lady Captured Falling Asleep While Taking Customers’ Orders(pics,vid) by Soknown: 11:24am On Oct 27, 2023
Kobicove:
Maybe she's doing multiple shifts without getting enough rest undecided
I don't think that's the case. Looks more like a temporal lobe epilepsy. The dribbling hands, lip smacking, slight head jerk on recovery is consistent with a TLE.
It is not consistent with exhaustion, or drug use as some are postulating here.
Career / Re: A White Lady Captured Falling Asleep While Taking Customers’ Orders(pics,vid) by Soknown: 11:10am On Oct 27, 2023
TruthsFM:
Lady captured falling asleep while taking customers’ orders


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7vvvOFp06c?si=iEHD8i3Vm1zkxDxS
Oh bless her, that looks more like a TLE. She recovered so quickly and since there was no post ictal effect, people recording her thought she slept off.
Travel / Re: Truck Falls On Otedola Bridge This Morning (Photos) by Soknown: 4:39pm On Sep 12, 2023
shevon:
There is something about that Otedola bridge nobody is talking about. Why only that spot all the time?

There is nothing on the bridge, everything is on us as a people. From the government to the governed, there is a reigning nonchalance, lack of maintenance in every spheres of our daily living.

Yes, the design and construction of that bridge
leaves much to be desired. But, there are no adequate signage on that road that warns or prompts drivers of a dip at the middle of the bridge or the lenght and wind drag on the bridge.

Secondly, you found out that it is trucks that fall mostly on the bridge, then you ask yourself what is the maintenance routines of those trucks, is there a government enforced service routines of the trucks on our roads.

Thirdly, overloading. Most truck owners and drivers overload their trucks believing that once the truck is covered up, there's no problem. Meanwhile an overloaded vehicle will become unstable due to drag and apparent wind depending on its speed approaching the bridge.

Lastly, most truck drivers don't rest enough before their trips. Most are not qualified to drive trucks. Most of them are under the influence of substances and sleep deprived.

So what happens when all of these loopholes are well aligned? Your guess is as good as mine.

1 Like

Politics / Re: Governor Abiodun Inspects The Ongoing Reconstruction Of Mowe-Ofada Road by Soknown: 3:57pm On Sep 12, 2023
spagettiluv:
OGUN STATE Governor visited the ongoing reconstruction of Mowe-Ofada road.

His tweet

Prince Dr. Dapo Abiodun - MFR, CON

This is too poor to look at. One side of the road was started by Amosun, which he did not complete btw. I hope Abiodun is not 'over-layering' on that same side. Layers and layers of greed, cluelessness and corruption.
The mentioned Adesan road is just sakamanje, nothing is going to happen to that mud ridden path not fit for even horses to tread.

2 Likes

Politics / Re: Governor Abiodun Inspects The Ongoing Reconstruction Of Mowe-Ofada Road by Soknown: 3:47pm On Sep 12, 2023
allen113:
Nigeria roads always looking like snake grin
Leave that for UK country roads, you will see horse shoes roads,ox bow roads, with dangerous degrees of bends.
Politics / Re: With Functional Refineries, Petrol Will Sell For Less Than ₦‎200 – IPMAN by Soknown: 7:20am On Sep 02, 2023
coputa:
NNPC is on production sharing agreement with the majors so, they will supply crude to the refineries at subsided rate, this will ultimately bring down the price of petrol and other petroleum derivatives.
Another subsidy
Politics / Re: With Functional Refineries, Petrol Will Sell For Less Than ₦‎200 – IPMAN by Soknown: 7:18am On Sep 02, 2023
Mynd44:
This isn't true except the FG will introduce subsidy on crude oil to the refineries.

If the crude is supplied at market price, the difference due to importation will not be more than ₦‎50-70 naira.

The only advantage is the pressure on the Naira due to FOREX

Unless the Government wants to reduce or remove its own share of the market price per barrel sold to the refinery and that in effect is subsidising the crude. Every other parameters will remain the same. The IOC will not sell crude to you at a rate cheaper than the market price unless some cutthroat deals were offered and accepted.
We cannot afford to remove one subsidy and reinstating on another in the same value chain.

1 Like

Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 10:11am On Aug 23, 2023
Westerhoffe:
Gross!
Very pathetic
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 10:11am On Aug 23, 2023
opera1:
End time nurse
She is going away for a very long time.
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 4:47am On Aug 23, 2023
To be honest I am not sure if this should be under health or crime. @Mynd44, @OAM4J
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 4:41am On Aug 23, 2023
https://news.sky.com/story/the-evidence-seen-during-lucy-letbys-murder-trial-from-handwritten-notes-to-cards-for-parents-12944606

The evidence seen during Lucy Letby's murder trial, from handwritten notes to cards for parents

The lengthy trial of the UK's most notorious child killer featured an enormous amount of detail, with the prosecution using handwritten notes, documents and even a sympathy card penned by Letby as evidence of her sinister presence on the Countess of Chester neonatal unit.

Thousands of pieces of evidence were gathered for the trial against Lucy Letby, detailing her "cruel, calculated and cynical campaign" of murder and attempted murder of babies at the Countess of Chester hospital.

A police search of her home following her first arrest in 2018 uncovered evidence of her "sadistic" crimes, including handwritten notes and hospital documents.

'I am evil'

One, a green Post-It note found inside a 2016 diary, contained what appeared to look like a confession: "I AM EVIL I DID THIS."

On the same note, Letby wrote: "I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough." Her defence barrister said the note was written by an "anguished woman in despair" at being linked to babies' collapses and deaths.

That wasn't the only note revealing Letby's frame of mind before her arrest.

On a separate note featuring similar small writing scrawled across every inch of space on the page, the killer nurse wrote: "I'm sorry that you couldn't have a chance at life," and "help" in capital letters.

And in another, she said 'I don't want to do this anymore.'

The prosecution said notes found in Lucy's bedroom amounted to confessions of guilt, rather than the outpourings of a woman in "distress".

Medical documents hidden in bags

Officers raiding Letby's bedroom also found some 257 confidential hospital documents, including handover and resuscitation sheets and blood gas readings, hidden away in bags.

Some related to the babies she had been found guilty of hurting or killing. Letby repeatedly said on the witness stand that she simply liked to "collect paper" or had forgotten to remove the documents from her uniform before heading home.

The former neonatal nurse said she couldn't destroy the confidential notes - though jurors were told a paper shredder had been found at Letby's home.

Inside Letby's bedroom

Letby cried during the trial as images of her bedroom after the police raid were shown to the court. Later in her questioning, she was asked by the prosecution why she had only cried for herself while giving evidence - Letby denied this was the case.

'Sorry I cannot be there'

Separate searches of Letby's phone found she had sent a sympathy card to the parents of a baby she killed - Child I, who died in October 2015. She photographed the card hours before the victim's funeral. The card read: "Thinking of you today and always - sorry I cannot be there to say goodbye."

She signed off the card: "Lots of love, Lucy."

Handing Letby a whole-life sentence, judge Mr Justice Goss said the former nurse kept hospital documents relating to many of her victims as "morbid records of the dreadful events surrounding the collapses of [her] victims and what [she] had done to them".

He said Letby had a "fascination" with the babies and their families, noting repeated searches Letby made on Facebook for the names of her victim's parents.

After a 10 month trial and around 110 hours of jury deliberations, the 33-year-old was convicted of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six more. She will never be released from prison.

Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 4:30am On Aug 23, 2023
@dominique, @Sissy3
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 4:28am On Aug 23, 2023
A few months later, Letby was finally arrested and suspended by the hospital. But three years had passed since Dr Brearey had first sounded the alarm.

When a new medical director and deputy chief executive, Dr Susan Gilby, began work the month after Letby's arrest, she was shocked at what she found.

She says her predecessor, Mr Harvey, had warned her she would need to pursue action with the General Medical Council, the doctor's regulator, against the neonatal unit's consultants - those who had raised the alarm. Mr Harvey denies this.

However, inside a box of files left in his office, Dr Gilby found evidence the problems lay elsewhere. Marked with the word "neonates", the files revealed how a meeting of the executive team in 2015 had agreed to have the first three deaths examined by an external organisation. That never happened.

The management team had also failed to report the deaths appropriately. It meant the wider NHS system could not spot the high fatality rates. The board of the hospital trust was also unaware of the deaths until July 2016.

Dr Gilby says the trust's refusal to call police appeared to be heavily influenced by how it would look. "Protecting their reputation was a big factor in how people responded to the concerns raised," she says.

Later in 2018, after Tony Chambers resigned, Dr Gilby was appointed chief executive and she stayed in post until 2022. She is now suing the trust for unfair dismissal.

Dr Brearey, says hospital managers had been "secretive" and "judgemental" throughout the period leading up to the nurse's arrest.

"There was no credibility given to our opinions. And from January 2017, it was intimidating, and bullying to a certain extent," he tells BBC News. "It just all struck me as the opposite of a hospital you'd expect to be working in, where there's a safe culture and people feel confident in speaking out."

Letby would ultimately be charged with seven murders and 15 attempted murders between June 2015 and June 2016. She was found guilty of all seven murders and seven attempted murders.

She was found not guilty of two counts of attempted murder. The jury also failed to reach a verdict on a further six counts of attempted murder, including all charges related to Baby K and Baby Q.

In a statement, Tony Chambers, the former CEO, said: "All my thoughts are with the children at the heart of this case and their families and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time. I am truly sorry for what all the families have gone through.

"The crimes that have been committed are appalling and I am deeply saddened by what has come to light. As chief executive, my focus was on the safety of the baby unit and the wellbeing of patients and staff. I was open and inclusive as I responded to information and guidance."

He added: "I will co-operate fully and openly with any post-trial inquiry."

Ian Harvey said in a statement: "At this time, my thoughts are with the babies whose treatment has been the focus of the trial and with their parents and relatives who have been through something unimaginable and I am sorry for all their suffering.

"As medical director, I was determined to keep the baby unit safe and support our staff. I wanted the reviews and investigations carried out, so that we could tell the parents what had happened to their children. I believe there should be an inquiry that looks at all events leading up to this trial and I will help it in whatever way I can."

The Countess of Chester Hospital is now under new management and the neonatal unit no longer looks after such sick babies.

The current medical director at the hospital, Dr Nigel Scawn, said the whole trust was "deeply saddened and appalled" by Letby's crimes.

He said "significant changes" had been made at the hospital since Letby worked there and he wanted to "provide reassurance to every patient who accesses our services that they can have confidence in the care that they will receive".

Since Letby left the hospital's neonatal unit, there has been only one death in seven years.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66120934

Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 4:23am On Aug 23, 2023
Spring 2018: Evidence of a poisoner

Letby had not yet been arrested and was still working at the hospital's risk and patient safety office. But Operation Hummingbird was in full swing and Dr Brearey was helping the police with their investigation.

Late one evening, he was going through some historic medical records when he discovered a blood test from 2015 for one of the babies on his unit. It recorded dangerous levels of insulin in the baby's bloodstream.

The significance of the test result had been missed at the time.

The body produces insulin naturally, but when it does, it also produces a substance called C-Peptide. The problem with the insulin reading that Dr Brearey was looking at was that the C-Peptide measurement was almost zero. It was evidence the insulin had not been produced naturally by the baby's body and had instead been administered.

"It made me feel sick," Dr Brearey recalls. "It was quite clear that this baby had been poisoned by insulin."
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 4:21am On Aug 23, 2023
Early 2017: Still no police inquiry
In early January 2017, the hospital board met and Mr Harvey presented the findings of the two reviews. Both had recommended further investigation of some of the baby deaths - and yet that message did not reach board members.

Records of the meeting show Mr Harvey saying the reviews concluded the problems with the neonatal unit were down to issues with leadership and timely intervention.

A few weeks later, in late January 2017, the seven consultants on the neonatal unit were summoned to a meeting with senior managers, including Mr Harvey and the hospital's CEO Tony Chambers.

Dr Brearey says the CEO told them he had spent a lot of time with Letby and her father and had apologised to them, saying Letby had done nothing wrong. Mr Chambers denies saying Letby had done nothing wrong. He said he was paraphrasing her father.

According to the doctor's account, the CEO also insisted the consultants apologise to Letby and warned them that a line had been drawn and there would be "consequences" if they crossed it.

Dr Brearey says he felt managers were trying to "engineer some sort of narrative" that would mean they did not have to go to the police. "If you want to call that a cover-up then, that's a cover-up," he says now.

Managers also ordered two of the consultants to attend mediation sessions with Letby, in March 2017. One of the doctors did sit down with the nurse to discuss her grievance, but Dr Brearey did not.

Yet, the consultants didn't back down. Two months after the apology, the hospital asked the police to investigate. It was the consultants who had pushed them into it.

Dr Brearey and his colleagues finally sat down with Cheshire Police a couple of weeks later. "They were astonished," he says.

The next day, Cheshire Police launched a criminal investigation into the suspicious baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital. It was named Operation Hummingbird.

Mr Chambers told the Panorama his comments to consultants had been taken out of context and that prompt action had been taken after he was first told of serious concerns in June 2016 - including reviews of deaths.

Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 4:19am On Aug 23, 2023
Letby still wasn't suspended, however.

Instead, she was moved to the hospital's risk and patient safety office. Here she is believed to have had access to sensitive documents relating to the hospital's neonatal unit. She also had access to some of the senior managers whose job it was to investigate her.

On 29 June 2016, one of the consultants sent an email under the subject line: "Should we refer ourselves to external investigation?"

"I believe we need help from outside agencies," he wrote. "And the only agency who can investigate all of us, I believe, is the police."

But hospital managers thought otherwise. "Action is being taken," wrote medical director Ian Harvey in his reply. "All emails cease forthwith."

Two days later, the consultants attended a meeting with senior management. They say the head of corporate affairs and legal services, Stephen Cross, warned that calling the police would be a catastrophe for the hospital and would turn the neonatal unit into a crime scene.

Rather than go to the police, Mr Harvey invited the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Heath (RCPCH) to review the level of service on the neonatal unit.

In early September 2016, a team from the Royal College visited the hospital and met the paediatric consultants.

The RCPCH completed its report in November 2016. Its recommendations included: "A thorough external independent review of each unexpected neonatal death."

In October 2016, Ian Harvey also contacted Dr Jane Hawdon, a premature baby specialist in London, and asked her to review the case notes of babies who had died on the neonatal unit.

The result was a highly caveated report. According to Dr Hawdon, her report was "intended to inform discussion and learning, and would not necessarily be upheld in a coroner's court or court of law".

It was not the thorough review the consultants had wanted - or the thorough external independent review that the RCPCH had recommended. But even the limited case-note report by Dr Hawdon recommended that four of the baby deaths be forensically investigated.

That did not happen.

Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 4:15am On Aug 23, 2023
Babies in red died, she was on shift.

Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 4:14am On Aug 23, 2023
But by October 2015, things had changed. Two more babies had died and Letby had been on shift for both of them.

By this point, Dr Brearey had become concerned Letby might be harming babies. He again contacted unit manager Eirian Powell, who didn't seem to share his concerns.

In an email, from October 2015, she described the association between Letby and the unexpected baby deaths as "unfortunate". "Each cause of death was different," she said, and the association with Letby was just a coincidence.

Senior managers didn't appear to be worried. In the same month - October 2015 - Dr Brearey says his concerns about Letby were relayed to director of nursing Alison Kelly. But he heard nothing back.

Dr Brearey's fellow consultants were also worried about Letby. And it wasn't just the unexpected deaths. Other babies were suffering non-fatal collapses, meaning they needed emergency resuscitation or help with breathing, with no apparent clinical explanation. Letby was always on duty.

In February 2016, another consultant, Dr Ravi Jayaram, says he saw Letby standing and watching when a baby - known as Baby K - seemed to have stopped breathing.

Dr Brearey contacted Alison Kelly and the hospital's medical director Ian Harvey to request an urgent meeting. In early March, he also wrote to Eirian Powell: "We still need to talk about Lucy".

Title: Doctors in the neonatal unit wanted to meet hospital managers - with "We still need to talk about Lucy" highlighted

Three months went by, and another two babies almost died, before - in May that year - Dr Brearey got the meeting with senior managers he had been asking for. "There could be no doubt about my concerns at that meeting," he says.

But others at the meeting appeared to be in denial. Dr Brearey said Mr Harvey and Ms Kelly listened passively as he explained his concerns about Letby. But she was allowed to continue working.

June 2016: The tipping point
By early June, yet another baby had collapsed. Then, towards the end of the month, two of three premature triplets died unexpectedly within 24 hours of each other. Letby was on shift for both deaths.

After the death of the second triplet, Dr Brearey attended a meeting for traumatised staff.

He says while others seemed to be "crumbling before your eyes almost", Letby brushed off his suggestion that she must be tired or upset. "No, I'm back on shift tomorrow," she told him. "She was quite happy and confident to come into work," he says.

For Dr Brearey and his fellow consultants, the deaths of the two triplets were a tipping point. That evening, Dr Brearey says he called duty executive Karen Rees and demanded Letby be taken off duty. She refused.

Dr Brearey says he challenged her about whether she was making this decision against the wishes of seven consultant paediatricians - and asked if she would take responsibility for anything that might happen to other babies the next day. He says Ms Rees replied "yes".

The following day, another baby - known as Baby Q - almost died, again while Letby was on duty. The nurse still worked another three shifts before she was finally removed from the neonatal unit - more than a year after the first incident.

The suspicious deaths and collapses then stopped.
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 4:10am On Aug 23, 2023
Hospital bosses ignored months of doctors' warnings about Lucy Letby

Hospital bosses failed to investigate allegations against Lucy Letby and tried to silence doctors, the lead consultant at the neonatal unit where she worked has told the BBC.

The hospital also delayed calling the police despite months of warnings that the nurse may have been killing babies.

The unit's lead consultant Dr Stephen Brearey first raised concerns about Letby in October 2015.

No action was taken and she went on to attack five more babies, killing two.

Letby has been found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others in a neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, in Cheshire.

The first five murders all happened between June and October 2015 and - despite months of warnings - the final two were in June 2016.

BBC Panorama and BBC News have been investigating how Letby was able to murder and harm so many babies for so long.

We spoke to the lead consultant in the unit - who first raised concerns about Letby - and also examined hospital documents. The investigation reveals a catalogue of failures and raises serious questions about how the hospital responded to the deaths.

Dr Brearey says he demanded Letby be taken off duty in June 2016, after the final two murders. Hospital management initially refused.

The BBC investigation also found:

The hospital's top manager demanded the doctors write an apology to Letby and told them to stop making allegations against her
Two consultants were ordered to attend mediation with Letby, even though they suspected she was killing babies
When she was finally moved, Letby was assigned to the risk and patient safety office, where she had access to sensitive documents from the neonatal unit and was in close proximity to senior managers whose job it was to investigate her
Deaths were not reported appropriately, which meant the high fatality rate could not be picked up by the wider NHS system, a manager who took over after the deaths has told the BBC
As well as the seven murder convictions, Letby was on duty for another six baby deaths at the hospital - and the police have widened their investigation
Two babies also died while Letby was working at Liverpool Women's Hospital

Summer 2015: 'Not nice Lucy'
Before June 2015, there were about two or three baby deaths a year on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital. But in the summer of 2015, something unusual was happening.

In June alone, three babies died within the space of two weeks. The deaths were unexpected, so Dr Stephen Brearey, the lead consultant at the neonatal unit, called a meeting with the unit manager, Eirian Powell, and the hospital's director of nursing Alison Kelly.

"We tried to be as thorough as possible," Dr Brearey says. A staffing analysis revealed Lucy Letby had been on duty for all three deaths. "I think I can remember saying, 'Oh no, it can't be Lucy. Not nice Lucy,'" he says.

The three deaths seemed to have "nothing in common". Nobody, including Dr Brearey, suspected foul play.
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 3:59am On Aug 23, 2023
The parents remember Letby looking visibly upset. The nurse then took control of the situation.

"She bathed him and then she dressed him in a little woollen gown and gave him back to us," says the mother, "and we held him for a little bit longer."

Doctors decided the cause of Baby E's death was a bowel condition, and that his premature birth was a factor. The death wasn't initially considered suspicious, so no post-mortem examination was carried out.

In court, the mother said she had been "totally surprised" when Letby presented her and her husband with a memory box containing a lock of the baby's hair and his hand and footprints. Letby had also taken photos of him, without their knowledge, and presented those to the parents too.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66108747

The mother said the nurse had given both twins a cuddly toy and later showed her a photo of her surviving baby, Baby F, holding his twin brother's teddy.

"She said: 'He rolled over and hugged his bear - I thought it was so amazing I took a picture for you,'" the mother remembers Letby saying.

At the time, this anecdote was comforting to the parents. But soon they realised new born babies can't roll over - their neck and arm muscles aren't strong enough - and it became one of many disturbing things they now view very differently.

During the trial, medical experts concluded that Baby E had not died as a result of his premature birth or a bowel condition, as previously thought.

His cause of death was internal bleeding and an injection of air into his bloodstream.

He was the fourth of seven babies murdered by Lucy Letby between June 2015 and June 2016. She attempted to murder another six infants - including Baby E's twin brother, Baby F, who suddenly deteriorated and became critically ill within 24-hours of his sibling's death.

Having just lost one child, the parents did not want to leave the side of their surviving baby. They were told his heart rate had become dangerously high.

"I said to my husband: 'Please, not again, we - we can't do this again, this can't be happening.'" She remained by his cot all night.

Medics managed to save Baby F and the parents were told their son had an infection. It was only two years later that they learned that his intravenous feedbag had been poisoned with insulin.

They say their child, who is now seven years old, was badly harmed by Letby and has been left with severe learning difficulties and "a lot of complex needs". "There's a consequence," his mother says, "and he's living with it."

Letby has "taken everything from us - absolutely everything," she says. "I think she's a hateful human being."

In 2018, when Letby was first arrested, Baby E and F's parents found it difficult to believe that she was the suspect. "Never in a million years did I think it would be someone that we felt we had a connection with," says the mother now.

"She had everything going for her, and then starts killing babies. What happened?" she asks. "It's something that we'll never know."

In court, the couple discovered the nurse had repeatedly searched their names on Facebook - including on Christmas Day.

Letby maintained she was simply checking how Baby F was doing - the baby whose heart she'd deliberately sent soaring with dangerous amounts of insulin, and whose twin brother she had killed just 24 hours before.

The babies' mother now believes Letby should spend the rest of her life behind bars. "What she's done has changed the course of our life forever."
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 3:53am On Aug 23, 2023
Victims' parents: 'Letby is a hateful human being who took everything from us'

Warning: This article contains details some readers may find upsetting

The parents of twin brothers who were among Lucy Letby's 13 victims have told the BBC the nurse is a "hateful human being" who has taken "everything" from them. Letby murdered one of their baby boys, and tried to kill the other twin the following day.

Letby has been found guilty of murdering seven babies, and trying to kill six others, at the Countess of Chester Hospital. There were six more attempted murder charges. She was found not guilty of two and the jury was undecided on the remaining four.

To protect the identities of the babies and their parents, the twins are referred to as Baby E and Baby F.

"We were actually told we would never have our own children," the babies' mother says, speaking to BBC Panorama. She found out she was having twins on Valentine's Day, in 2015, after several failed IVF attempts.

It had not been the plan to have the babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, where Letby worked. It wasn't their nearest hospital, but when the time came that was where there was space.

The twins were born prematurely, in the summer of 2015, and despite them needing specialist care in the neonatal unit, their father remembers the joy he felt as a new dad.

"There was just a sheer elation and happiness that I'd never felt before, or since," he says now.

After the birth, the babies' mother would come down from the maternity ward where she was recovering from a Caesarean section to drop off breast milk.

Her babies, who lay side-by-side in incubators, were doing well and the family was waiting to be transferred to a hospital closer to home. But as she approached their room one evening, she could hear intense crying that sounded like screaming.

"I've never heard anything like it since," the mother says. "I was like, 'What's the matter with him?'"

"It was a sound that should not come from a tiny baby," she said while giving evidence at Letby's trial, in November.

Walking into the room she discovered it was one of her babies - Baby E - making the noise. He had blood around his mouth. Rushing to comfort him, she gently put her hand on his tummy to give him a reassuring sign that she was there.

She'd been taught this in hospital - and normally it worked. But the baby continued screaming and she could feel her panic rising.

Letby was the only other person in the room. The child's mother remembers she wasn't near her baby and didn't look at him while she was in there.

"You know when it feels like somebody wants to look busy, but they're not actually doing anything?" she says now.

She asked Letby what was wrong with her son. The nurse told her the baby's feeding tube must have been rubbing the back of his throat. She said she had already called a registrar, who would be there soon.

Letby, an experienced nurse who the mother trusted, told her not to worry, to go back to her ward and that she'd be contacted if there was a problem. "She has this really calm demeanour about her," the mother told the BBC. "She's very softly spoken."

The parents had struck up a rapport with Letby - they were all on first name terms. They'd shared their story with the neonatal staff; their journey to starting a family, and the obstacles they'd faced. Letby had told them about her life. She was happy being single, she told them, and was hoping to buy a house.

When the baby's condition deteriorated later on, his mother rushed back to the unit, where she watched through the glass as medics crowded around his incubator, attempting to resuscitate her son.

She remembers Letby was there but didn't make eye contact with them.

By the time the baby's father arrived, a priest had been called, and the parents were taken to be with their child. "We were told to talk to him, and hold his hand," says the mother, "and then he was christened."

Eventually, the consultant told them there was nothing more that could be done. "She said: 'It's no good. We want him to die in your arms rather than being worked on'," she says through tears.

"And they passed him to us, and he died."
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 3:42am On Aug 23, 2023
15 July 2016: All staff are emailed to say they will have to undergo a period of clinical supervision in preparation for an external review.

Staff are told that Letby has agreed to go first. The next day, she texts a colleague to say she has done a timeline of the year to analyse her cases. She says some were seriously ill when she took over and "some went off within hours/on handover".

Text message from Lucy Letby on 16 July 2016: "Hoping to get as much info together as possible -if they have nothing or minimal on me they'll look silly, not Me".
Letby was first arrested two years later, in July 2018. It took another five years for her to be found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder another six.

At the end of her 10-month trial, the jury found her not guilty of two further charges of attempted murder and was unable to return verdicts on six further charges, also of attempted murder.

She is the most prolific child murderer in the UK in modern times.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66120198
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 3:41am On Aug 23, 2023
Tuesday 13 October 2015 - Baby I falls critically ill
The next morning, Letby texts a colleague who is taking over, saying Baby I "deteriorated a lot this morning" and had to be resuscitated.

In the afternoon, she messages the nurse who is acting as shift leader to ask if Baby I will be transferred.

Letby: I'd like to keep her please

The shift leader agrees, but a little over an hour later she messages to say she had to reallocate. Letby asks if something happened.

Shift leader: No. Was just asked to reallocate so no one has her for more than 1 night at a time.

Baby I died the following week, when Letby was again on an overnight shift. She has been found guilty of her murder.

Short presentational grey line
Over the next few months more babies fall ill. In text messages, she complains about understaffing, and volunteers for extra shifts - including the shift where she attempts to murder twins, Baby L and Baby M.

In early June 2016, Letby connects on Facebook Messenger with a doctor at the hospital. Their messages show a close relationship.

Later that month, she murders Baby O and Baby P.

Friday 24 June 2016 - Baby P dies

Letby murders Baby O on Thursday 23 June. She kills his brother, Baby P, the following day.

A day later, she asks the doctor she had been messaging for reassurance after one of the consultant paediatricians, Dr John Gibbs, had been asking questions following another baby's collapse and resuscitation.

Letby: Do I need to be worried about what Dr Gibbs was asking?

Doctor: No

Doctor: He was asking to make sure that normal procedures were being carried out.

The conversation continues:

Text messages between Lucy Letby and a doctor on 25 June 2016. Letby says: "We've lost 2 babies I Was caring for and now this happened today, makes you think 'am I missing something/good enough'". The doctor replies: "if *anybody* says anything to you about not being good enough or performing adequately I want you to promise me that you'll give my details to provide a statement." Letby says: "Well I sincerely hope I won't ever be needing a statement. But thank you, I promise".

The doctor offers further reassurance:

Doctor: You are one of a few nurses across the region (I've worked pretty much everywhere) that I would trust with my own children.

6 July 2016: The doctor messages Letby giving her details of a meeting which reviewed the deaths of Baby O and Baby P, saying "You need to keep this to yourself".

Doctor: There is absolutely nothing for you to worry about. Please don't.

Doctor: There are going to be some recommendations based on staffing / kit but there was no criticism of either resus.

He also shares an email from neonatal lead consultant Dr Steve Brearey, which mentions that the deaths of Baby O and Baby P will go to an inquest.

The next day he adds: "I know you won't say anything - this email has to stay between us, is that ok?"

"Of course," Letby replies. "100%".
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 3:39am On Aug 23, 2023
ahnie:
This one strong

Totally horrific, heart and soul-rending. Shouldn't have happened in this age.
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 3:38am On Aug 23, 2023
Tuesday 4 August 2015 - Baby E dies in early hours

That morning, one of the nurses asks how Letby is and if she had been working with Baby E - as well as his twin brother, Baby F.

Letby: News travels fast. Who told you?

Letby: Yeah I had them both. Was horrible.

[…]

Nurse: I just really feel for his parents but for you too. You've had some really tough times recently

That night, before going back on shift, Letby exchanges texts with a colleague who commiserates, saying "you seem to be having some very bad luck".

Letby: Not a lot i can do really. He had massive haemorrhage could have happened to any baby x

Wednesday 5 August 2015 - Baby F falls critically ill

Four days after attempting to kill Baby F, Letby messages a colleague:

Letby: I said goodbye to Baby F's parents as Baby F might go tomorrow. They both cried & hugged me saying they will never be able to thank me for the love & care I gave to Baby F & for the precious memories I've given them. It's heartbreaking

Nurse: It is heartbreaking but you've done your job to the highest standard with compassion and professionalism.[...]

Letby: I just feel sad that they are thanking me when they have lost him & for something that any of us would have done. But it's really nice to know that I got it right for them. That's all I want.

Saturday 26 September 2015 - five days after attempting to kill Baby G

Letby receives a supportive text from a manager in the unit and her reply suggests she has been the subject of criticism or suspicion:

Text from Lucy Letby on 26 September 2015: "That's really nice to hear as I gather you are aware of some of the not so positive comments that have been made recently regarding my role which I have found quite upsetting. Our job is a pleasure to do & just hope I do the best for the babies & their Family."

The next day she messages one of the other nurses:

Letby: It's all just so rubbish lately isn't it. And always seems to happen at night when less people

Letby: This is what we do, as sad and as hard as it can be
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 3:33am On Aug 23, 2023
Sunday 14 June 2015 - Baby C dies
Letby has a text conversation with the same colleague she had been speaking to the previous night:

Message written by Lucy Letby dated 14/06/2015 It reads: Sorry if I was off just wasn't a great start to shift but sadly it got worse. X/ I was struggling to accept what happened to Baby A. Now we've lost Baby C overnight & It's all a bit much.X / Colleague replies: Hope you're going to be ok. This isn't like you. Sending you biggest hugs. xx / Letby continues: I just keep seeing them both. No one should have to see & do the things we do. It's heartbreaking. But It's not about me. We learn to deal with it. Thank you Bleep

Sunday 21 June 2015 - Baby D dies
The morning after murdering Baby D, Letby sends a message to a colleague:

Letby: We lost Baby D

Colleague: What!!!! But she was improving. What happened.

Colleague: Wanna chat? I can't believe you were on again. You having such a tough time

The conversation continues later:

Text messages from Lucy Letby on 22 June 2015: "…on a day to day basis it's an incredible job with so many positives. But then sometimes I think, how do such sick babies get through & others just die so suddenly & unexpectedly? Guess it's how it's meant to be" and "I think there is an element of fate involved. There is a reason for everything"
Letby tells another colleague "what I've seen has really hit me" but she brushes off the suggestion that she should see a counsellor.

Letby: I can't talk about it now, I can't stop crying. I just need to get it out of my system.

30 June 2015: One of the other nurses messages Letby, saying it is odd that four babies have become dangerously unwell within a short period of time.

Nurse: There's something odd about that night and the other 3 that went so suddenly.

Letby: Well Baby C was tiny, obviously compromised in utero. Baby D septic. It's Baby A I can't get my head around
Health / Re: Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 3:30am On Aug 23, 2023
Text messages sent by Lucy Letby in the hours after she murdered babies on a neonatal unit were a key part of the evidence against her.

They show how she messaged colleagues after she had killed babies, often informing them of the deaths. In turn, she received sympathy and concern.

The texts show how she offered to work extra shifts on the neonatal intensive therapy unit (ITU). And, as her murders mounted, they also reveal how Letby reacted as the net of suspicion closed in on her. Here are some of the messages she sent.

To protect the identities of the babies, and their parents, each baby has been named by a letter.

Monday 8 June 2015 - Baby A dies overnight
The day after murdering Baby A, Letby messages colleagues saying she doesn't want to go back into the nursery or see the parents - who also had another twin on the unit, Baby B.

She attacks Baby B some time before 11 June.

Letby: It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

Letby: Just a big shock for us all. Hard coming in tonight & seeing the parents x x


She messages one of the nurses to say she has asked to be assigned to work with another baby:

Text message from Lucy Letby on 9 June 2015: "I just don't know how I'm going to feel seeing parents. Dad was on the floor crying Saying please don't take our baby away when I took him to the mortuary, it's just heartbreaking."
11 June 2015: Three days after murdering Baby A, she messages a manager of the neonatal unit, offering to work more shifts, saying she needs to throw herself back in:

Text message from Lucy Letby on 11 June 2015: "from a confidence point of view I need to take an ITU baby soon X"

13 June 2015: Five days after Baby A's murder, and the day before she kills Baby C, Letby has an irritable exchange with a colleague over her manager's refusal to let her go back to work in intensive care.

She says when she worked at Liverpool Women's Hospital, she found she needed to go straight back and care for another baby "otherwise the image of the one you lost never goes".

The colleague disagrees, telling her to take a break:

Colleague: I agree with her don't think it will help. You need a break from full on ITU... It sounds very odd and I would be complete opposite.

[…]

Letby: Forget i said anything, I'll be fine, It's part of the job just don't feel like there is much team spirit tonight X

The conversation continues into the evening, until 23:09 when Letby signs off saying "Sleep well xx".

Six minutes later, Baby C falls critically ill.

Letby had been assigned to a child elsewhere in the unit, but that night she enters the nursery where Baby C is and feeds air into his stomach through a nasogastric tube, causing his collapse.

Health / Lucy Letby, Baby Serial Killer ( Graphic details, words) by Soknown: 3:23am On Aug 23, 2023
Early one morning in July 2018, Lucy Letby was led away from her home in handcuffs after being arrested for the first time.

The neonatal nurse, 28 at the time, was to be questioned about truly unthinkable crimes that, upon conviction, would make her the UK's most prolific child serial killer in modern times.

Her arrest followed a painstaking investigation by Cheshire Police that, at its height, involved nearly 70 officers and civilian staff.

The sole focus of Operation Hummingbird was to investigate the alarming and unexplained rise in deaths and near-fatal collapses of premature babies in the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit.

Within hours, news of Letby's arrest was making headlines around the world.

She was initially released on police bail but was subsequently arrested twice more and then ultimately charged in November 2020.

Since October, the now 33-year-old has been on trial at Manchester Crown Court, accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016.

She steadfastly denied all of the 22 charges against her but was found guilty of seven counts of murder and seven of attempted murder, involving six babies.

Letby was acquitted on two counts of attempted murder while jurors were unable to reach verdicts on six further attempted murder charges.

The jury of seven women and four men had deliberated for more than 110 hours after hearing nine months of harrowing evidence.

But what have we learned about the woman who murdered and attempted to kill babies she was trusted to care for?

Letby was born on 4 January 1990 and grew up in Hereford with her mother and father, John and Susan, who since October have watched their daughter's trial unfold from the public gallery.

She attended a local school and sixth-form college, selecting subjects she believed would help her achieve her goals and aspirations.

"I have always wanted to work with children," she told the jury, adding she had chosen A-levels "which would best support that career".

Letby, who was the first person in her family to go to university, studied nursing for three years at the University of Chester.

During her studies, she completed numerous work placements. The majority were based at the Countess of Chester Hospital, either on the children's ward or the neonatal unit.

She qualified as a Band 5 nurse in September 2011 and went on to start working full-time at the hospital from January 2012 before qualifying to work with intensive care babies in the spring of 2015.

Letby told the court her workload from that time was "predominately" spent looking after the sickest babies on the unit.

She also revealed how she mentored five or six student nurses and estimated that she had cared for hundreds of new-born babies during 2015 and 2016.

In September 2016, Letby was officially informed in a letter from the Royal College of Nursing that she was under investigation over the deaths of babies.

Earlier that year, she had been removed from clinical duties and given a clerical role in the risk and patient safety office by hospital management.

At the time, she believed this was to check staff were competent to do their jobs and hoped to return to the job she loved.

But six years later Letby - who had no previous convictions, reprimands or cautions recorded against her - found herself sitting in the dock behind a glass screen as the prosecution labelled her a "calculating and devious" opportunist who "gaslighted" colleagues to cover her "murderous assaults".

Her defence team argued the deaths and collapses were due to "serial failures in care" in the unit and she was the victim of a "system that wanted to apportion blame when it failed".

During the trial, jurors were given a glimpse into Letby's life outside of work, with her once-private WhatsApp and social media messages read to the court.

"I had quite an active social life," she told the jury.

"I used to regularly attend salsa class, go out with friends, go on holidays with friends. Gym."

She started to cry as pictures of her home - where she was first arrested - were shown to the jury.

Letby lived in staff accommodation at Ash House before moving to a flat in Chester for about six months.

She moved back into Ash House in June 2015 before moving into the house she bought on Westbourne Road, Chester, in April 2016.

A photo of a noticeboard in the kitchen was covered in pictures and letters and featured a poster, drawn by her godson, which read: "No.1 Godmother awarded to Lucy Letby".

On her bed, she had Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore cuddly toys while a drawer in the living room contained various documents and medical notes for her two cats, named Tigger and Smudge.

Letby has been remanded in custody since November 2020 and has spent time in four different prisons.

Her trial has gripped readers from around the world, many unable to fathom how a neonatal nurse could carry out such heinous acts.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-65058159

1 Like

Travel / Re: Living In The Uk-life Of An Immigrant (part 3) by Soknown: 11:00am On Aug 20, 2023
Etsetemi88:
Greetings house, please do we have anyone here who lives in Grimsby or nearby towns?,I am looking for accomodation, even if it's a shared apartment I don't mind. Please it's urgent. Thanks as I await your responses
Hi, got your mail and replied but for whatever reasons, it returned undelivered.
Nairaland / General / Re: Let's Talk About Phobia, What Are You Afraid Of? by Soknown: 10:11pm On Aug 07, 2023
labake1:
I have fear of height (Acrophobia), I always run away from storey buildings. In fact I always avoid a situation where someone will carry or lift me. On my wedding day, I will tell the MC to skip that part. I don't know how to overcome the fear.

What are you afraid of?
And have you conquered your fears?

Fear of falling, I had a crash few years back. Since that time, I have phobia for situations that can make me to have a free fall.
I have flown many times after the crash but I cannot ride a bicycle or motorbikes again because there is no side protection on the duo. I can go on a ladder if it has side rails.
Nairaland / General / Re: From This List, What's The One Chore You Absolutely Hate To Do? by Soknown: 6:09pm On Aug 05, 2023
labake1:
It's Saturday
Have you done your chores?
From this list, what's the one chore you absolutely hate to do?
Ironing clothes for sure. Hated it, still hating it, will continue to hate till end of time.

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