Some of U.K. nurse Lucy Letby’s murders could have been stopped earlier, inquiry finds

British nurse Lucy Letby was able to murder seven newborns because of a “complete failure” to protect babies at the hospital at which she worked, and some of the deaths could have been avoided, the chair of an inquiry said on Tuesday.

Inquiry chair Kathryn Thirlwall criticized senior staff for not acting sooner, blaming dysfunctional management at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northern England and a basic lack of understanding of safeguarding.

Letby, 36, was convicted in 2023 of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others, making her Britain’s most prolific serial child killer of modern times. She was later convicted of another attempted murder charge.

Prosecutors said Letby attacked the newborns by giving them an overdose of insulin, injecting them with air or force-feeding them milk between June 2015 and June 2016, in a case that shocked Britain and drew worldwide attention.

But Letby, who was sentenced to life without parole and maintains she is innocent, has also been the subject of a growing campaign, backed by some medical experts and specialists, which has publicly questioned her convictions.

Thirlwall, who previously criticized “noise” around the case, did not address Letby‘s guilt or innocence in her report…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world