UK Nurse Found Guilty of Murdering Seven Babies
British nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty on Friday of murdering seven infants and attempting to kill another six in the neonatal unit of a hospital she worked at in northwest England.
Facts
- British nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty on Friday of murdering seven infants and attempting to kill another six in the neonatal unit of a hospital she worked at in northwest England.1
- Prosecutors say that Letby, aged 33, physically assaulted the newborns, poisoned them with insulin, injected air into their bloodstreams, and overfed them with milk.2
- The crimes — which reportedly took place in the neonatal ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016 — were discovered when senior doctors became concerned at the number of unexplained deaths and illnesses of children in her unit.1
- The jury found Letby guilty after 110 hours and 26 minutes of deliberations, spread across 22 days. The jury, however, couldn't reach verdicts on six remaining counts of attempted murder regarding four infants.3
- Letby broke into tears on Aug. 8, when the jury initially convicted her of two counts of attempted murder, and declined to be in the courtroom during subsequent verdict readings. She could receive a mandatory life sentence for her crimes.4
- Meanwhile, the government has ordered a probe into how doctors' concerns regarding Letby were addressed.5
Sources: 1Reuters, 2BBC News (a), 3NBC, 4New York Post, and 5BBC News (b).
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by CNN. Lucy Letby is a calculating and devious opportunist who callously murdered seven innocent infants and attempted to kill more. In finding Letby guilty, justice has been served, though this verdict will never take away from the pain and heartbreak experienced by the victims and their families. She is the worst serial killer in modern history in the UK, and she deserves to spend the rest of her life in prison.
- Narrative B, as provided by The Guardian. While a step in the right direction, this verdict fails to address the hospital negligence that allowed Letby's horrendous crimes to continue for as long as they did. Doctors' concerns fell on deaf ears as executives remained wilfully blind to the horrors in their halls. True justice won't be reached until all involved answer for their part in this tragedy.
