A British nurse has been recently found guilty of murdering 7 babies and attempting to kill 6 others at the hospital where she worked.
During the investigation at her residence, the police found notes stating “I am a horrible evil person” and “I don’t deserve to live.”
This incident is presently considered as the most severe instance of serial baby killings in the nation’s recent times.
Lucy Letby, aged 33, inflicted harm upon the babies entrusted to her care by injecting air into their blood and stomachs, overfeeding them with milk, physically assaulting them, and poisoning them with insulin, as was conveyed by the prosecutors to the Manchester Crown Court.
In a specific case, Letby fatally injected a baby boy with air into his bloodstream, as reported by a news agency. The subsequent day, she attempted to kill his twin brother with insulin.
It is important to note that a court order preserves the anonymity of the children affected by the allegations against Letby, encompassing those who died and those who survived while under her care.
Amidst the investigation, the police stumbled upon a collection of handwritten notes during their search of Letby’s residence. Among these, one note read, “I am evil, I did this.”
Letby secretly assaulted 13 babies in the neonatal ward at the Countess of Chester hospital during the span of 2015-2016, according to Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service.
The prosecutors contended that, her aim was to terminate the lives of the babies while duping her colleagues into believing that natural causes were responsible for their deaths.
Pascale Jones of the CPS called Letby’s actions a “complete betrayal of the trust placed in her.”
She stated, “Lucy Letby 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.”
Expressing grief & disappointment on the matter, the victims’ families stated that they “may never truly know why this happened.”
A joint statement stated, “To lose a baby is a heart-breaking experience that no parent should ever have to go through.”
The statement added, “But to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable.”
Notably, in 2018 & 2019, Letby got arrested twice by police in connection with their investigation. She was arrested again in November 2020.
Furthermore, authorities have also searched for notes Letby wrote during searches of her address.
“I don’t deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them,” she wrote in one memo, adding in another, “I am a horrible evil person” and in capital letters “I am evil I did this.”
The court heard, the doctors at the hospital began to notice a steep rise in the number of babies who were dying or unexpectedly collapsing.
However, the concerns raised by consultants about the heightened mortality rate among patients under Letby’s supervision were initially disregarded by the hospital administration.
In response to the incident, the UK government has ordered an independent inquiry into the killings, encompassing an examination of “how concerns raised by clinicians were addressed.”
The government stated in a statement, the inquiry will probe into the “circumstances surrounding the deaths and incidents.”
Additionally, it will evaluate the measures taken by regulatory bodies and the National Health Service in response to concerns regarding Letby.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay pledged that the perspectives of the victims’ parents will be duly acknowledged throughout the inquiry, recognizing certain questions that need to be answered.
The victims’ families stated in a joint statement, “Justice has been served and the nurse who should have been caring for our babies has been found guilty of harming them.”
The statement added, “But this justice will not take away from the extreme hurt, anger and distress that we have all had to experience.”
As per the news agency, “We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb.”
Letby will now be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on August 21.
