Expert: I believe that Letby has poisoned at least one more child
AT LEAST one more baby is likely to have been poisoned with insulin by Lucy Letby, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The cases of up to 91 babies who collapsed or died at the Countess of Chester Hospital while she was a nurse there were reviewed by prosecution medical experts during the first stage of the police investigation, it can also be disclosed.
They included the 17 children who Letby was originally charged with killing or harming between June 2015 and June 2016. Last week the 33-year-old was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder a further six, making her the most prolific child killer in modern UK history.
Yesterday Dr Dewi Evans, the chief prosecution expert in the trial, said he would be going back to look again at the remaining 74 children and liaising with Cheshire officers, who have confirmed their investigation into Letby is ongoing.
Dr Evans told the MoS he had uncovered at least one other case of suspected insulin poisoning and another potential attempted murder, where he believed the baby had been injected with air but survived.
His comments come as it emerged yesterday that two more families want police to investigate the death of their babies, believing they could have been killed by Letby. The Daily Telegraph reported that both mothers could be considered vulnerable – one is from Lithuania and does not speak much English, while the other has learning difficulties. They both believe Letby was present when they were at the hospital with their children.
The nurse appeared to have signed one baby’s baptism book with a seemingly loving message, while the other infant’s father recognised Letby from media coverage of the trial.
Police officers contacted the families during their initial investigation but they were not included in the case that went to trial.
Sources close to the inquiry have said at least 30 babies who suffered suspicious collapses and lived have already been identified by detectives.
When the police were finally called in, in May 2017, Dr Evans was sent the medical notes of 33 children to evaluate.
Following Letby’s arrest and publication of her photograph, a year later, many more parents contacted police, which prompted officers to compile and send Dr Evans the medical notes of another 58 babies.
‘This woman didn’t turn up one day and start giving babies intravenous air,’ Dr Evans said. ‘Letby must have done something before then [June 2015].
‘I believe there is at least one other case of insulin poisoning out there that needs further looking at.
‘When I went back and checked my notes last week, I also found another child who suddenly deteriorated that I suspect was a result of air being pumped into their bloodstream. That child recovered and went home.’
Letby was convicted of the attempted murder of two boys, Baby F and Baby L, who were poisoned with insulin on the unit, eight months apart, in August 2015 and April 2016. She also attacked their twin brothers, murdering Baby E and attempting to kill Baby M.
The trial heard that, although blood tests showed high levels of the drug in Baby F and Baby L, none of the doctors picked up on the usual results, which were simply entered into the infants’ medical notes without proper investigation.
It meant Letby assumed she had got away with it, and her killing spree continued.
Only when the medical notes of both sets of twins were reviewed by police did anyone realise that, as well as injecting babies with air, she had been poisoning them.
Cheshire police have pledged to medically review the cases of 4,000 babies admitted to the neonatal units of the Countess and Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where Letby underwent training in 2012 and 2015, to ensure the ‘footprint’ of the killer nurse’s career is thoroughly examined.
They have refused to speculate on the exact number of babies Letby could have harmed, but have not ruled out future charges or prosecutions.
Sources have told the Mail that, while a couple of babies who died might be included in any future inquiry, the majority of cases involve children who survived.
Dr Evans said: ‘I think there will be grounds for a second trial. I believe there is at least one more case of insulin poisoning and air embolus. I will be going back over all my 91 cases, not including those babies Letby was found guilty of murdering or harming, in the coming weeks.’
According to The Times, witnesses for the prosecution have already been interviewed in relation to other suspicious incidents, including those which took place as far back as 2012.
Dr Evans also urged police to look at the 247 handover notes that were found at Letby’s home, and that of her parents, following her arrest in July 2018.
‘I don’t think she took them home for posterity,’ he said.
The prosecution suggested she took them as mementoes of her victims and used them as crib sheets to search for their parents
‘This woman must have done something earlier’ ‘There will be grounds for a second trial’
on Facebook, with whom she had a morbid fascination.
Dr Evans said he had been shocked by the revelations of the past few days and added: ‘There has to be a statutory review and the police need to investigate the managers for corporate manslaughter. It is absolutely awful that they failed to heed the consultants’ concerns and, I’m very sorry to say, gross negligence on everyone’s part.’
Mr Harvey has disputed some of the consultants’ claims and, along with other senior managers at the hospital, has insisted he will co-operate with any Government inquiry.