<\/p>\n
LONDON (AP) – An English judge issued a scathing report Tuesday blaming dysfunctional management and a \u201ccomplete failure at all levels\u201d to protect babies at the hospital where neonatal nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering seven newborns.<\/p>\n
The inquiry into baby deaths found the Countess of Chester Hospital, in northwestern England, could have saved some infants from death and injury if staff had acted sooner when children began collapsing, Justice Kathryn Thirlwall said.<\/p>\n
\u201cErrors were made by nurses, doctors and managers,\u201d Thirlwall said. \u201cThere was also complete failure at all levels to invoke safeguarding procedures at any point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Letby, 36, is serving a life sentence for the murders of seven babies and attempted killing of seven others. She has maintained her innocence, and a defense team backed by dozens of scientists who have questioned the evidence against her are seeking to clear her name.<\/p>\n
Thirlwall\u2019s inquiry did not review Letby\u2019s convictions but looked at how institutional failures exposed babies to repeatedly be harmed at the hospital and how staff and management responded and treated parents.<\/p>\n
She focused on the failure of staff to intervene when it became clear someone was deliberately harming babies.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many lives could have been saved had the hospital acted differently?\u201d she said. \u201cIt is clear that some babies would have been saved and some attacks would have been prevented if action was taken earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Letby was convicted in 2023 of the murders of seven infants and attempted murders of six others – including two attempts on one child. A case in which jurors couldn\u2019t reach a decision was retried and Letby was convicted in July of another attempted murder. She was sentenced to 15 life terms with no chance of release – only the fourth woman in the United Kingdom to receive such a term.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said she harmed babies in ways that left little trace, including injecting air into their bloodstreams, administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes, poisoning them with insulin and interfering with breathing tubes.<\/p>\n
She was the only employee on duty in the neonatal unit when the children collapsed or died between June 2015 and June 2016. Prosecutors described her as a \u201cconstant malevolent presence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press.
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