Three senior leaders at the Countess of Chester Hospital in England have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over the deaths of seven infants, linked to convicted nurse Lucy Letby, who is serving multiple life sentences for similar crimes. Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes of the Cheshire Constabulary said the arrests followed a corporate manslaughter probe into the hospital’s response to the increased fatalities.
Letby, 35, was convicted in 2023 of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven others while working as a neonatal nurse at the hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. Prosecutors alleged she harmed infants through various means, including injecting air into their bloodstreams and administering air or milk through nasogastric tubes.
Despite her conviction, Letby’s lawyers argue that she was wrongly accused, citing disputed evidence and questioning by international medical experts who found no sign of a crime. An independent panel of medical experts also concluded that natural causes or bad medical care led to the deaths, not intentional harm by Letby.
The three arrested hospital leaders were released on bail after Detective Hughes said the investigation focused on senior leadership decision-making regarding the response to increased fatalities. A judge overseeing a public inquiry into the hospital’s failures has yet to publish her findings, but experts dispute evidence used against Letby and her lawyers argue that she was wrongly convicted.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/britain-nurse-letby-arrests-hospital-72b87fff2878737a5430cf2045d948e9