Lucy Letby – Trial date – Eight babies allegedly murdered by children’s nurse Lucy Letby have been named for the first time.
The 30-year-old appeared in court after being charged with the murders of eight infants and the attempted murder of ten other babies between 2015 and 2016 at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit.
Letby appeared via video link at Warrington Magistrates’ Court, where the names, ages, and some details of the children were revealed.
The names of the babies allegedly killed are: Cemlyn Bennett, Joseph Johnson, Elsie McNall, Barney Gee, Daisy Parkin, Maddie Freed, Joseph Gelder and Eli Gelder.
All of the infants were aged under one.
Joseph and Eli Gelder were two of triplets born at the hospital.
They died one day apart.
Five girls and five boys make up the ten attempted murder victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Lucy Letby arrested three times
Countess of Chester Hospital nurse Lucy Letby was originally arrested in 2018 and 2019 on suspicion of murder in relation to the deaths of eight babies and the attempted murder of six others.
She had previously been questioned by detectives for two days while her Chester home in northwest England was searched, but was released without charge.
Police this week revealed that Letby, once the face of a £3 million ($A5.4 million) fundraising campaign, had been rearrested after further information was gathered by detectives during an “extremely challenging” investigation.
“The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised Cheshire Police to charge a healthcare professional with murder in connection with an ongoing investigation into a number of baby deaths,” a force spokesman said.
“Lucy Letby, of Arran Avenue, Hereford, is facing eight charges of murder and 10 charges of attempted murder.
“The charges relate to the period of June 2015 to June 2016.”
What did Lucy Letby do to the babies?
Everything You Need To Know About Lucy Letby, The Nurse Who Allegedly Murdered 8 Babies At The Hospital Where She Worked.
Lucy worked hard studying as a nurse and graduated with her degree in 2011 from Chester University.
After she graduated, she worked at Liverpool Women’s Hospital to get more training under her belt.
Being a nurse was a job Lucy dreamed of doing. Her colleagues said that she was a complete professional and worked hard.
She has a squeaky clean record with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and she even was their poster child for a campaign that raised nearly $3.5 million dollars for them.
Facebook; pictured above 30-year-old nurse Lucy smiles for a photo while at a sporting event with friends
Lucy said about the council in a statement, “I enjoy seeing them progress and supporting their families.”
One of Lucy’s friends said that Lucy was kind and wouldn’t even hurt a fly. She seemed like the perfect fit for working as a neonatal nurse.
And then, between June of 2015 and June of 2016, seventeen babies died at Countess of Chester Hospital.
Facebook; Lucy is pictured above holding an infant in the hospital where she worked
Located in Chester, England, this was the very hospital Lucy was working at when the deaths occurred.
One of her neighbors told DailyMail, “I knew her when she was a little girl and she was as sweet as anything. I’ve seen her grow up and she seemed a lovely woman.”
“So this is news is deeply and utterly shocking. I can’t fathom it.”
“When you hear of these sort of things, you always get one or two people saying ‘I thought there was something fishy about them.”
“But with Lucy all you will hear is positive things.”
Facebook; in the above photo, Lucy is pictured out with her friends sipping a drink
Lucy’s friends and family say that she was very involved in charitable causes and that she was just a sweet, geeky young woman.
One friend called her just an amazing person.
Lucy was even the face of the $2.6 million dollar appeal for the hospital to build a brand new pediatric unit back in 2013.
Facebook; pictured above is Lucy’s graduation photo that her parents proudly published in a local paper to announce her graduation from nursing school
So, how does someone who seems like such a do-gooder who cares about children end up being accused of murder?
Lucy is not just facing charges for murdering just one child….she’s currently facing charges for murdering eight that were in her care and attempting to murder ten more.
Back in 2016, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health released three different reports saying that staffing in the pediatric unit of Countess of Chester Hospital was far from adequate.
Facebook; Lucy smiles big and snaps a selfie with a friend in the photo above
They couldn’t figure out why babies entrusted to the nurses and doctors there died in heartbreaking numbers from June 2015 to June 2016.
They did, however, come up with 24 different ways they recommended the hospital could improve the care of babies there.
Poor decision-making by the staff, lack of senior doctors, and the reluctance of staff to get advice from their colleagues were some of the concerns the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health cited in their reports.
Facebook; Lucy poses in the above photo in front of a piano while holding a drink in her hands
The death rate of babies at this hospital was over 10% the average expected death rate for maternity wards.
Just two babies died at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2013. In 2014, that number was three babies. In 2015, eight babies died.
Then in 2016, five babies died by June, which was only halfway through that year.
Facebook; Lucy smiles while wearing a blue sweater in the above photo, and it’s hard to imagine someone beloved by her friends, family, and coworkers was actually capable of what she allegedly did
The increase in deaths of babies in this hospital’s care forced them to stop caring for any baby younger than 32 weeks old and transferred all babies under this age out of their care.
They also had three intensive care cots that they closed because of the rapidly increasing death rate.
Premature babies were collapsing with lung and heart failure. They were proving impossible to resuscitate, which was beyond bizarre.
The babies that had died were then showing weird blotches all over their legs and arms after their deaths.
Since none of the experts could figure out what on earth was going on, police were called in to investigate the hospital in 2017, in hopes of being able to get to the bottom of everything.
Lucy did an interview with one of her local newspapers around this time, posing for a photo in her ward while she held up a little baby outfit. She later proudly posted the photo on her social media.
She told the paper in her interview, “I qualified as a Children’s Nurse from The University of Chester in 2011 and have been working on the unit since graduating.”
Facebook; pictured above is a closeup photo of Lucy enjoying a night out with her friends
“I also worked on the unit as a student nurse during my three years of training. My role involves caring for a wide range of babies requiring various levels of support.”
“Some are here for a few days, others for many months and I enjoy seeing them progress and supporting their families.”
“I am currently undergoing extra training in order to develop and enhance my knowledge and skills within the Intensive Care area and have recently completed a placement at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.”
Facebook; Lucy smiles while out on the town with her friends for the night
“I hope the new unit will provide a greater degree of privacy and space,” she added about the brand new neonatal unit that was opening.
This was the unit that cost over $2 million dollars that she had been the face for.
It’s absolutely unclear how police were able to pinpoint Lucy as a suspect in the deaths, but shortly before she was arrested, the hospital placed her on suspension.
Facebook; Lucy smiles and poses alongside a Christmas tree in the festive photo pictured above
The hospital then brought her off suspension and moved her into an administrative-type position where she wasn’t interacting with patients.
There are still so many unanswered questions, but Lucy was first arrested in 2018 (yes, the first time…she was recently arrested again).
This means it took police a year into their investigation to say they suspected Lucy of being involved.
Detective Inspector Paul Hughes, who led the investigation, said the following in a statement.
Facebook; Lucy laughs and poses in front of a car in the photo above
“We recognize that this investigation has a huge impact on all of the families, staff, and patients at the hospital, as well as members of the public,” he said.
“Parents of all the babies are continuing to be kept fully updated and are being supported throughout the process by specially trained officers.”
Facebook; pictured above Lucy makes a crazy face for the camera
“This is an extremely difficult time for all the families and it is important to remember that, at the heart of this, there are a number of bereaved families seeking answers as to what happened to their children.”
Sources say that Lucy went on vacation with her parents and that the infants that were coming up sick significantly went down while she was away, which is how police originally suspected her.
On Facebook, Lucy belonged to 14 different groups dedicated to helping sick children.
Facebook; Lucy makes a silly face alongside friends in the photo above
When Lucy was first arrested, police searched the entire home that she purchased for a little over $200,000. They even dug up her gardens trying to find any sign of infant remains.
So far, no infant remains have been discovered in Lucy’s home or on her property.
Police then interrogated Lucy for two whole days. They suspected Lucy murdered eight babies and attempted to murder six more that she had cared for.
She was later released on bail in July of 2018, but then she was arrested for a second time…
Facebook; Lucy laughs in the backseat of a car in the photo above
Lucy was arrested again for a second time in June of 2019, nearly a year after she was released on bail.
At that time, police explained they thought she had potentially murdered more babies, and then she was released again.
Then, she was arrested for the third time in November of 2020, and here’s what the police said at the time.
Facebook; Lucy is pictured above on a pole
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Hughes from the Cheshire Police said in a press release, “Today (Tuesday 10 November), as part of our ongoing enquiries, the healthcare professional has been re-arrested on suspicion of murder in relation to the deaths of 8 babies and the attempted murder of 9 babies.”
“The woman is currently in custody helping officers with their enquiries.”
They had enough evidence to arrest her again, although they are not sharing exactly what they have that points to Lucy.
Facebook; Lucy is pictured above drinking out of a pitcher in a restaurant
On November 111th, 2020, the Cheshire Police released another statement saying that Lucy was being charged officially.
“The Crown Prosecution Service has authorized Cheshire Police to charge a healthcare professional with murder in connection with an ongoing investigation into a number of baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital,” the statement reads.
“Lucy Letby, of Arran Avenue, Hereford, is facing 8 charges of murder and 10 charges of attempted murder. The charges relate to the period of June 2015 to June 2016.”
Facebook; Lucy is pictured above enjoying a night out and showing off her goofier side
“The 30-year-old was re-arrested on Tuesday 10 November and has since subsequently been charged.”
“She has been held in custody and is due to appear at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 12 November.”
Today, October 4th, 2021, Lucy appeared in court over video where she pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of 10 babies, and she also pleaded not guilty to the murder of 8 babies.
Lucy’s trial has been set to begin in another year: October of 2022.
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