LONDON – Three senior officials at the Countess of Chester Hospital, where nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of killing newborns, have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, according to Cheshire police.
The unnamed suspects were taken into custody after investigators expanded a corporate manslaughter probe related to the deaths of infants between 2015 and 2016. All three were released on bail.
Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes said the arrests focus on senior leadership and whether their decisions contributed to the rise in neonatal fatalities. “This focuses on senior leadership and their decision-making to determine whether any criminality has taken place concerning the response to the increased levels of fatalities,” he explained.
Letby, 35, was convicted in 2023 of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others while working as a neonatal nurse. She is currently serving multiple life sentences. Prosecutors said she harmed infants through various undetectable methods, including injecting air or insulin and tampering with breathing tubes.
Letby has consistently denied the charges. Support for her has grown recently, with critics arguing her conviction was based largely on circumstantial and flawed scientific evidence. A panel of international experts challenged the findings, with Canadian neonatologist Dr. Shoo Lee stating in February, “We did not find any murders.”
An ongoing public inquiry, led by Justice Kathryn Thirlwall, is expected to release its findings this fall. While the inquiry will not re-examine Letby’s conviction, it is looking into systemic failures at the hospital that allowed repeated harm to occur.
The inquiry comes amid new scrutiny over the hospital’s standards. An independent medical review found no signs of intentional harm but highlighted serious deficiencies in staff training, response times, and basic neonatal care.
Letby’s legal team has taken her case to the Criminal Case Review Commission, in hopes of securing another appeal. The Crown Prosecution Service maintains that her conviction was sound, citing the findings of two juries and multiple appellate judges.
