London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Jun 22, 2025

Nurse Lucy Letby poisoned babies with insulin, trial told

Nurse Lucy Letby poisoned babies with insulin, trial told

A "poisoner was at work" at a hospital where there was a "significant rise" in the number of healthy babies dying, a court has heard.

Lucy Letby has been accused of murdering five baby boys and two girls, and attempting to murder 10 other babies at Countess of Chester hospital.

Nick Johnson KC, prosecuting, said she was a "constant malevolent presence" in the hospital's neonatal unit.

Ms Letby, 32, of Hereford, denies 22 charges at Manchester Crown Court.

Jurors heard Ms Letby is alleged to have tried to kill one child three times, while another died as a result of being injected with air.

Family members of some of the babies concerned in the case were among those present in the court as Mr Johnson opened the prosecution.

He said the Chester institution was a "busy general hospital like so many others in the UK".

However, he said that "unlike many other hospitals, within the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, a poisoner was at work".

"Prior to January 2015, the statistics for the mortality of babies in the neo-natal unit at the Countess of Chester were comparable to other like units," he said.

"However, over the next 18 months or so, there was a significant rise in the number of babies who were dying and in the number of serious catastrophic collapses."

Lucy Letby appeared in the dock at Manchester Crown Court


He said the increases were noticed by hospital consultants, who were concerned that "babies who were dying had deteriorated unexpectedly".

Medics also noted that babies who had collapsed "did not respond to appropriate and timely resuscitation" and that others "collapsed dramatically, but then, equally dramatically, recovered".

"Having searched for a cause, which they were unable to find, the consultants noticed that the inexplicable collapses and deaths did have one common denominator," he said.

"The presence of one of the neonatal nurses and that nurse was Lucy Letby."

Mr Johnson told the court that as medics could not account for the collapses and deaths, police were called in and conducted a "painstaking review".

"That review suggests in the period between mid-2015 and the middle of 2016, somebody in the neonatal unit poisoned two children with insulin," he said.

"The prosecution say the only reasonable conclusion to be drawn from the evidence you will hear is that somebody poisoned these babies deliberately with insulin."

Among several cases detailed by the barrister, he told the jury that both babies were boys and both born as twins - but not to each other - and were poisoned within a few days of being born.

Mr Johnson said their blood sugar levels dropped to dangerous levels.

But the babies - identified only as child F and child L - survived due to the skill of medical staff who appreciated low blood sugar can have natural causes, he said.

"What the medical staff did not realise was that in both cases, was the result of someone poisoning them with insulin," he added.

The prosecutor said nobody would think somebody would be trying to kill babies in a neonatal unit.

Nick Johnson KC, prosecuting, said Lucy Letby was the "one common denominator" that linked the deaths and collapses


"There's a very restricted number of people who could have been the poisoner, because entry to a neonatal unit is closely restricted," he said.

"Lucy Letby was on duty when both were poisoned and we allege she was the poisoner," Mr Johnson said.

He said both of the twins had a baby brother, child E and child M, who were both also allegedly attacked by Ms Letby - one of which did not survive.

The court heard one of the means by which the child E was killed and child M was harmed, was by having air injected into the bloodstream - what the doctors call an air embolus.

He said all the deaths and collapses were "no accident" and were not "naturally-occurring tragedies".

Mr Johnson said sometimes babies were injected with air and on other occasions they were fed with insulin or too much milk.

Lucy Letby is alleged to have tried to kill the same baby three times


He told the court: "So varying means by which these babies were attacked, but the constant presence when they were fatally attacked or collapsed catastrophically was Lucy Letby."

Jurors were shown a chart showing nurses who were present on duty when the alleged criminal incidents were said to have taken place.

Pointing out, as examples, the first three alleged offences in time he said the chart showed the only person that was present on all three occasions was the defendant.

Mr Johnson said: "If you look at the table overall the picture is, we say, self-evidently obvious. It's a process of elimination.

"Many of the events in this case occurred on the night shifts.

"When upon Lucy Letby was moved on to day shifts, the collapses and deaths moved to the day shifts.

"They were all the work of the woman in the dock, who, we say, was the constant malevolent presence when things took a turn for the worse for these 17 children."

Mr Johnson alleged that in some cases, Ms Letby tried to kill the same baby more than once.

"Sometimes a baby that she succeeded in killing she did not manage to kill the first time she tried, or even the second time, and in one case even the third time."

The court heard how Ms Letby studied for her nursing degree at the University of Chester and had qualified a few years before the alleged events.

She worked throughout the period in consideration at the neonatal unit and was living in Chester at the time.

The jury has been told the trial may last up to six months.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
UK Home Secretary Apologizes Over Child Grooming Failures
×