Closing summary
We’re closing this live blog down now. Here’s a summary of the day’s main events:
The neonatal nurse Lucy Letby has been convicted of the murders of seven babies in her ward, as well as seven counts of attempted murder. The offences all occurred between June 2015 and June 2016 and the attempted murder convictions related to six children – two of the charges reflecting two attempts to murder the same child.
Families of victims expressed their “extreme hurt, anger and distress”. They said: “To lose a baby is a heartbreaking experience that no parent should ever have to go through. But to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable.”
Ministers announced an independent inquiry into how Letby was able to carry out so many attacks before she was reported to police. The inquiry, announced by the health secretary, Steve Barclay, will be independent from the NHS and government and involve input from families, but it will not be a formal statutory inquiry, under which witnesses can be compelled to give evidence.
Babies would have survived if hospital executives had acted earlier on concerns about the nurse Lucy Letby, a senior doctor who raised the alarm said. In an exclusive Guardian interview, Dr Stephen Brearey accused the Countess of Chester hospital trust of being “negligent” and failing to properly address concerns he and other doctors raised about Letby as she carried out her killings.
You can read the full report by my colleague Josh Halliday here:
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Government orders inquiry
Ministers have announced an independent inquiry into how Letby was able to murder seven babies and attempt to kill six others before she was reported to police.
The inquiry, announced by the health secretary, Steve Barclay, will be independent from the NHS and the government and involve input from families, but it will not be a formal statutory inquiry, under which witnesses can be compelled to give evidence.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it had been decided that a non-statutory independent inquiry was the best option, in part so lessons could be learned more quickly.
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We now know that Lucy Letby is a murderer, responsible for the deaths of seven babies and the attempted murders of six more. But as unimaginable as her crimes were, this verdict raises as many questions as it answers. Letby was not working in a vacuum. Could the killings at the Countess of Chester hospital NHS foundation trust have been stopped sooner? Did organisational failures cost the lives of babies who could have been protected?
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Outside court, Det Ch Insp Nicola Evans said:
All of their babies will forever be in our hearts. I would like to thank all of the families in this case for their exceptional resilience and strength throughout this entire investigation, their composure and their dignity during this trial has been truly overwhelming.
The investigation into the circumstances surrounding this case started in May 2017, since that time hundreds of witnesses have been spoken to by a team of dedicated detectives. Many of those witnesses have returned to court on numerous occasions to give evidence, without their honesty and their support the families would not have received the justice that they have received today.
I cannot begin to imagine how the families in this case feel today, I just hope that today’s verdicts bring all of them some peace of mind for the future, and that we have answered some of the questions that they were looking for.
Cheshire Constabulary will continue to support all of the families in this case in the coming days and weeks ahead, there will be a period of reflection as everybody comes to terms with what they’ve experienced here today.
Letby has indicated she does not want to take any part in her sentencing hearing next week.
A reporting restriction, designed to ensure a fair trial, was imposed until the jury had returned all of its verdicts.
Letby was in the courtroom on 8 August when the jury returned its first two guilty verdicts of attempted murder, and then again on 11 August when she was convicted of four murders and another two attempted murders.
However, at the end of that court day, she did not return to the dock as the jury was sent home for the weekend.
Letby returned to court the following week but her made last appearance in court seven on the morning of 16 August, when the judge sent the jury out to continue its deliberations.
More verdicts were returned later that day, in her absence, and again on 17 August, when the court heard Letby had indicated to her legal team she did not intend to return to the dock.
Letby continued to be produced at court from prison but would not come up from the cells.
Her parents, John and Sue, who had previously attended the trial every day, did not come to court on Friday as the trial ended.
Letby has also indicated she does not wish to follow Monday’s sentencing hearing via videolink from prison, the court was told.
The reasons for her non-attendance have not yet been disclosed by the judge. Mr Justice Goss said:
The sentencing hearing will of course take place whether she is present or not. The court has no power to force a defendant to attend at a sentencing hearing, therefore there is nothing I can do in relation to that.
Whistleblower says babies would have lived, had his warnings been heeded
Babies would have survived if hospital executives had acted earlier on concerns about the nurse Lucy Letby, a senior doctor who raised the alarm has said.
In an exclusive Guardian interview, Dr Stephen Brearey accused the Countess of Chester hospital trust of being “negligent” and failing to properly address concerns he and other doctors raised about Letby as she carried out her killings.
Brearey was the first to alert a hospital executive to the fact that Letby was present at unusual deaths and collapses of babies in June 2015.
The paediatrician and his consultant colleagues raised concerns multiple times over months before Letby, then 26, was finally removed from the neonatal unit in July 2016. The police were contacted almost a year later, in May 2017.
Speaking publicly for the first time, Brearey told the Guardian that executives should have contacted the police in February 2016 when he escalated concerns about Letby and asked for an urgent meeting.
Instead, he said, nothing was done other than to arrange another meeting three months later.
Discussing with police at that stage would seem to be a sensible action to take. If that had happened, it’s reasonable to conclude that [two] triplets, Child O and Child P, would be alive today.
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Fellow nurses and all NHS staff are “shocked and sickened” by Lucy Letby’s crimes, Dame Ruth May, NHS England’s chief nursing officer, has said.
The health service will “learn every possible lesson from this awful case”, she pledged.
In her response to the verdicts May, a nurse by background, said:
Lucy Letby committed appalling crimes that were a terrible betrayal of the trust placed in her and our thoughts are with the families affected, who have experienced pain and suffering that few of us can imagine.
Colleagues within the nursing profession and across the health service have been shocked and sickened to learn what she did, actions beyond belief to the nurses and staff working so hard to save lives and care for patients.
On behalf of all of us I would like to express our profound apologies to the families for all they have been through.
The NHS is fully committed to doing everything we can to prevent anything like this ever happening again, and we welcome the independent inquiry announced by the Department of Health and Social Care to help ensure we learn every possible lesson from this awful case.
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As we mentioned earlier, families of the victims in the Lucy Letby case have expressed their “extreme hurt, anger and distress” in a joint statement read by Janet Moore, a family liaison coordinator at Cheshire constabulary.
You can watch a video of that here:
The parents of prematurely born twin boys who Lucy Letby attempted to kill, have welcomed the guilty verdict but say “whatever sentence she gets is not going to be enough”.
The mother of the twins, identified as Child L and Child M, said Letby “took everything” from them. “She took everything … our joy, happiness.” Their father added that he is “not the same person I was before”.
“It’s not going to do justice no matter what. She’s taken lives. She’s tried to take other babies’ lives, so whatever sentence she gets is not going to be enough.
“It’s hard to put into words just how it could have gone on so long, why it went on so long. These are the answers we need,” he added.
There should be an independent inquiry to understand why the doctors concerns were dismissed, the twin’s father added: “The higher management, they need to be held accountable. The doctors raised their concerns and they didn’t act upon them, they dismissed them and it could have been prevented.”
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Footage released by Chester police shows Lucy Letby’s first arrest at her home in Chester on 3 July 2018 and her first police interview on the same day.
A jury at Manchester crown court has found the nurse guilty of murdering seven babies, making her Britain’s worst killer of babies in modern times.
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The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS foundation trust’s executive medical director, Dr Nigel Scawn, has said:
I speak for the whole trust when I say how deeply saddened and appalled we are at Lucy Letby’s crimes. We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital and our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or died. We cannot begin to understand what they have been through.
This case has had a profound impact on our patients and our local community and also our staff, who come to work every day determined to provide safe and high-quality care for our patients.
Our staff are devastated by what happened and we are committed to ensuring lessons continue to be learnt. We are grateful for the cooperation of our staff, especially those who have maintained the utmost professionalism whilst giving evidence in the trial, sometimes on multiple occasions. We will continue to support them and other staff to ensure they receive the care and support they need.
We would like to extend our thanks to Cheshire police for their extensive investigation and the work they did to bring this case to trial. We’d also like to thank them for the comprehensive support they have provided to all of the families.
Since Lucy Letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services. I want to provide reassurance that every patient who accesses our services can have confidence in the care they will receive.
And, most importantly, our thoughts are with all the families and loved ones at this very difficult time.
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The trial of Lucy Letby – video timeline
Our video report sums up the trial of Lucy Letby, who has become the worst child serial killer in modern British history after being found guilty of murdering seven babies.
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'I am evil I did this', reads note found in Letby's home
A note found in Letby’s home reads “I am evil I did this” and “I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough”.
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After the verdicts were delivered this afternoon, the senior investigating officer Det Supt Paul Hughes said:
This has been a highly complex and extremely sensitive investigation over the past six years. We had to go right back to the start, keeping an open mind and being careful not to draw any conclusions.
The last thing we expected to find was a suspect responsible for these deaths and non-fatal collapses. It was a long, drawn-out process but no stone was left unturned. We had to do it right, not rush it.
This has been an investigation like no other – in scope, complexity and magnitude. We had to deal with this as 17 separate investigations. We are normally used to dealing with one murder or attempted murder investigation at a time, let alone something on this scale.
What started out as a team of eight quickly increased and, at the height of the investigation, featured almost 70 officers and civilian staff working together in a bid to unearth the answers that the families so desperately deserved.
Turning up at the home of a family who have lost a baby, grieved for their loss and are trying to move on from that is difficult enough, but having to tell them that someone who was meant to be caring for their little one could ultimately be responsible for their death is not an easy task.
I want to say thank you to the whole investigation team in recognition of all of their dedication and hard work. Without you, we wouldn’t be in this position today.
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Some of Letby’s victims could have been saved if hospital bosses had listened to concerns senior doctors raised “repeatedly” about her, the NHS ombudsman has said.
Rob Behrens, the parliamentary and health service ombudsman, also described the serial murder of newborn babies at the Countess of Chester hospital as “real evil” and “one of the darkest crimes ever committed in our health service”. Responding to the jury’s verdicts, Behrens has said:
We know that, in general, people work in the health service because they want to help and that when things go wrong it is not intentional. At the same time, and too often, we see the commitment to public safety in the NHS undone by a defensive leadership culture across the NHS.
The Lucy Letby story is different and almost without parallel, because it reveals an intent to harm by one individual. As such, it is one of the darkest crimes ever committed in our health service. Our first thoughts are with the families of the children who died.
However, we also heard – throughout the trial – evidence from clinicians that they repeatedly raised concerns and called for action. It seems that nobody listened and nothing happened. More babies were harmed and more babies were killed. Those who lost their children deserve to know whether Letby could have been stopped and how it was that doctors were not listened to and their concerns not addressed for so long. Patients and staff alike deserve an NHS that values accountability, transparency, and a willingness to learn.
Good leadership always listens, especially when it’s about patient safety. Poor leadership makes it difficult for people to raise concerns when things go wrong, even though complaints are vital for patient safety and to stop mistakes being repeated. We need to see significant improvements to culture and leadership across the NHS so that the voices of staff and patients can be heard, both with regard to everyday pressures and mistakes and, very exceptionally, when there are warnings of real evil.
Victims' families speak of their heartbreak
Families of victims in the Lucy Letby case have expressed their “extreme hurt, anger and distress”. Janet Moore, a family liaison coordinator at Cheshire constabulary, read out a joint statement on behalf of the families that said:
Today, justice has been served and the nurse who should have been caring for our babies has been found guilty of harming them.
But this justice will not take away from the extreme hurt, anger and distress that we have all had to experience.
Some families did not receive the verdict that they expected and, therefore, it is a bittersweet result. We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb. We may never truly know why this happened.
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Tony Chambers, the former chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital, has said he is “truly sorry” for what the families have gone through. In a statement read out on BBC News, Chambers 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.
The BBC also reported that Chambers said he would “cooperate fully and openly” with any post-trial inquiry.
Crown prosecutor Pascale Jones has said of Letby:
Parents were exposed to her morbid curiosity and her fake compassion. Too many of them returned home to empty baby rooms. Many surviving children live with permanent consequences of her assaults upon their lives.
Her attacks were a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her.
My thoughts are with families of the victims who may never have closure, but who now have answers to questions which had troubled them for years.
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Three female jurors wiped away tears as trial judge Mr Justice Goss thanked them for their “obvious care, diligence and sense of responsibility” and told them they were excused from further jury service for the rest of their lives.
After the jury confirmed they were unable to reach verdicts in relation to four babies, the relatives of one of the infants stormed out of court.
A law firm representing two of the families of Letby’s victims said the verdicts would not be “the end of our search for answers and our fight for justice for our clients”.
Yvonne Agnew, the head of clinical negligence Cardiff at Slater and Gordon, said the parents were “determined that lessons are learnt” by the Countess of Chester hospital, the NHS and the wider medical profession “so that no babies or parents are put in harm’s way like this again”.
For more than eight months, we’ve had to hear some of the most harrowing details about what happened to our client’s children, something no parent should ever have to experience.
Becoming a parent is a particularly vulnerable time in anyone’s life. If your child needs special care, in that moment of helplessness, you put your utmost trust in medical professionals to do their best for you in what many people will tell you is the safest possible place – a hospital.
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Call made for public inquiry
The City of Chester MP Samantha Dixon has called for a public inquiry into the case. She has said:
The families that have endured this unimaginable suffering deserve to know exactly what happened, and those who use our NHS services need the reassurance that it can never happen again. That’s why, today, I have written to the secretary of state for health and social care, asking for a full, independent and public inquiry into this case.
Too many people now live with the consequences of the catastrophic harm caused by Letby.
An attempt on a child’s life is one of the most depraved acts a person can commit. And the death of a child is the hardest burden to bear. To know such actions were caused deliberately is truly terrible. For the families at the heart of this, I feel intense sadness and stand beside them in their grief and sorrow.
I pay tribute to Cheshire police, who have investigated this highly complex case over the past six years. I know they have supported the families and those who have given evidence, throughout.
Following today’s verdict, the time is right to seek the reassurance that no one could ever again perpetrate crimes as hideous as these.
The families whose children were killed and harmed, the community I represent and families across the country need to know their children are protected and safe. The government should now institute a full, independent and public inquiry into the circumstances in which these crimes were perpetrated.
Jonathan Storer, the chief crown prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said:
This is an utterly horrifying case. Like everyone who followed the trial, I have been appalled by Letby’s callous crimes.
To the families of the victims – I hope your unimaginable suffering is eased in some way by the verdicts. Our thoughts remain with you.
Our prosecution team and police investigators have my respect and gratitude. These convictions could not have happened without their dedication to securing justice.
A note of medications given to a baby boy as he fought back from the brink of death was among items found under Letby’s bed.
The record of emergency drugs provided to the infant was written on a paper towel during his 30-minute resuscitation. Letby gave rescue breaths to Child M after she responded to his cot monitor alarm.
Earlier, she had injected air into his bloodstream and also poisoned his twin brother, Child L, with insulin. She denied she kept it as a souvenir of her attack.
The paper towel and a blood gas reading for Child M were both found in a Morrisons bag in Letby’s bedroom following her arrest.
The trial heard how Letby murdered newborns by injecting air into their tiny bodies, in some cases shattering their diaphragms, or in one case by pushing a tube down an infant’s throat.
She tried to kill two babies by lacing their feeding bags with insulin. She was finally reported to police in 2017 and arrested in 2018. DCI Nicola Evans, of Cheshire constabulary, described her as a “calculated and callous” killer who had acted “under a cover of trust” to murder days-old babies in her care.
Lucy Letby was operating in plain sight. She abused the trust of the people around her. Not just the parents that had entrusted her with their babies but also the nurses she worked with and the people that she regarded as friends.
The prosecutor Nick Johnson KC told the court the CPS would need 28 days to decide whether to seek a retrial on the six counts of attempted murder on which jurors were unable to reach verdicts. They relate to three baby girls and two newborn boys.
The judge has told the court Letby will be sentenced on the counts on which she has been found guilty on Monday.
Pascale Jones, a senior prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, said Letby’s attacks were a “complete betrayal” of the trust placed in her.
Lucy Letby was entrusted to protect some of the most vulnerable babies. Little did those working alongside her know that there was a murderer in their midst.
She did her utmost to conceal her crimes, by varying the ways in which she repeatedly harmed babies in her care. She sought to deceive her colleagues and pass off the harm she caused as nothing more than a worsening of each baby’s existing vulnerability.
In her hands, innocuous substances like air, milk, fluids – or medication like insulin – would become lethal. She perverted her learning and weaponised her craft to inflict harm, grief and death.
Letby’s victims included two identical triplet brothers killed within 24 hours of each other, a newborn weighing less than 1kg (2lb) who was fatally injected with air, and a baby girl born 10 weeks premature who was murdered on the fourth attempt.
After hearing one batch of verdicts, Letby refused to return to court to hear the rest. She had earlier bowed her head and sobbed while her mother, Susan, cried loudly and said: “You cannot be serious. This cannot be right” as verdicts were delivered.
The nurse, who was in her mid-20s when she carried out the attacks, is expected to become only the third woman alive to be handed a whole-life term – meaning she will never be released from prison – when she is sentenced on Monday.
Lucy Letby convicted of murder of seven babies
A neonatal nurse has been named as the worst child serial killer in modern UK history, after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six more.
Lucy Letby carried out the killings between June 2015 and June 2016 on the unit where she worked in the Countess of Chester hospital.
The 33-year-old has been convicted at Manchester crown court of what prosecutors called the “persistent, calculated and cold-blooded” murders of premature infants, after one of the longest-running murder trials in recent times.
Bereaved parents gasped and wept in the public gallery as the verdicts were delivered over several dramatic days.
Letby was found guilty on seven counts of attempted murder of six children – two counts related to two attempts to murder the same child – and not guilty on two more.
Our full story is here:
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Verdicts understood to be imminent in Letby trial
Verdicts are imminent in the trial of Lucy Letby, a nurse accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill 10 others.
Letby, 33, has denied harming infants on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England, where she worked.
The children’s nurse has been on trial at Manchester crown court for nine months over what the prosecution allege was a “calculated” and “cold-blooded” year-long series of killings from June 2015.
However, the university graduate, originally from Hereford, has consistently denied the allegations. She insisted that a number of the babies were the victims of poor care and that they should have been receiving specialist treatment elsewhere.
The jury of eight women and four men retired to consider their verdicts at 1.02pm on Monday 10 July.
My colleague Josh Halliday is at Manchester crown court and we will bring you updates as soon as we have them.
