Police arrest managers from Lucy Letby’s hospital on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter
Three managers at the hospital of convicted baby killer Lucy Letby have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in relation to the deaths.
Ms Letby, 35, was found guilty of seven murders and eight attempted murders across 2015 and 2016 while working as a neonatal nurse at the UK’s Countess of Chester Hospital.
Several hospital doctors have claimed that hospital bosses ignored their concerns about Ms Letby, who they noticed was present around the times of several unusual deaths.
In 2023, police started investigating possible corporate manslaughter — a British concept meaning a company or managers can be liable for negligent management leading to death — that later expanded to include possible gross negligent manslaughter.
Police arrested the three managers, who were not named, on Monday.
“All three have subsequently been bailed pending further enquiries,” Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes said.
He said the investigation had focused on the response of senior hospital leaders to the increase in neonatal death rates.
Investigations were continuing into potential corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter, as well as whether Ms Letby had committed more crimes at the hospital and at another unit where she had worked, he said.
“It is important to note that this does not impact on the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple offences of murder and attempted murder,” he added.
Ms Letby’s convictions relied heavily on expert opinions and statistical analysis, with nobody claiming to have seen her kill a baby.
An application to overturn her convictions is before the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which is considering a report by 14 international medical experts saying that alternative explanations existed for every death.
Ms Letby’s barrister, Mark McDonald, slammed the police decision to alert the media to the arrests while the commission was considering the case.
“Yet another press release from the police at a very sensitive time when the commission are looking at the case of Lucy Letby,” he said.
“Despite this, the concerns many have raised will not go away, and we will continue to publicly discuss them.”
A lawyer for the hospital’s management told a separate public inquiry into the deaths that senior leadership did not “deliberately and knowingly” protect Ms Letby.
The inquiry’s final report will be released next year.
Read more:
