Everything We Know About the Lucy Letby Trial

Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of murdering children.

It is interesting to think about how much trust we put in our medical professionals. We don't know them at all, but when we are sick, we trust them to help make us better and just assume that they will do everything humanly possible to keep us that way. But that isn't always the case.

Neonatal nurse Lucy Letby being one of those cases. Lucy worked at Countess of Chester Hospital has been on trial for murdering seven babies while they were in her care. What's the verdict?

We break it all down below.

As mentioned earlier, Lucy Letby, 33, was a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester, England, and worked with newborns. She had been on trial for not only killing seven babies but attempted to murder six others between 2015 and 2016.

One baby, that was called Child G throughout the trial, was given "far more milk" than was prescribed as an attempt to harm the child, according to Dr. Dewi Evans who testified at the trial. Another coworker of Lucy's testified during the trial that a baby was in distress and instead of asking for help, Lucy told them to go away.

Lucy also inserted insulin or fluid into these babies causing them to die. But the main way of causing harm was to give excess air or even take away their breathing tubes. Dr. Ravi Jayaram observed the latter, causing him to alert the hospital of his suspicions about Lucy at the time.

Lucy was arrested three different times due to suspicions regarding the deaths. The third time was in November 2020. She remained in the custody of the police this time.

Lucy Letby's trial, which began in October 2022, became the United Kingdom's longest murder trial lasting over 10 months. Lucy pleaded not guilty to all 22 charges that were against her and even took the stand saying, "I only ever did my best to care for them...That's completely against everything that being a nurse is. I am there to care not to harm" and blaming sewage problems for the deaths (via People).

However, the most incriminating evidence against her was her own handwritten notes.

In the notes, Lucy wrote things like, "I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them”; “I am evil I did this”; and “Today is your birthday and you are not here and I am so sorry for that” (via CPS).

Lucy was found guilty of 16 of the 22 counts and on August 21, 2023, and was sentenced to a life in prison.

We hope this ruling will give the families of those lost some comfort knowing that some justice has been served.