UK nurse accused of killing 7 babies, poisoning 2 with insulin
- Lucy Letby is on trial for the murder of 5 boys and 2 girls, and the attempted murder of 10 other infants
- A day-old baby who was born prematurely was likely to have been killed after air was injected into his bloodstream
A hospital neonatal nurse in Britain accused of killing seven babies and trying to kill 10 others poisoned two infants deliberately with insulin, a British prosecutor said Monday.
Lucy Letby, 32, has been charged with murder in the deaths of five baby boys and two girls, and the attempted murder of five boys and five girls, while she worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016.
Letby earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Opening her trial at Manchester Crown Court, prosecutor Nick Johnson said beginning in 2015, the hospital saw a significant rise in the number of babies who were dying or suffering “serious catastrophic collapses”.
“Babies who had not been unstable at all suddenly deteriorated. Sometimes babies who had been sick, but then been on the mend suddenly deteriorated for no apparent reason,” he told the jury.