LONDON — A woman who was a nurse at a hospital in England between June 2015 and June 2016 was convicted of murdering seven babies Friday in Manchester, England, after a 10-month trial.
Lucy Letby, 33, was found guilty of murdering seven newborns and attempting to murder six more, according to The Washington Post. Letby was found not guilty on two other counts of attempted murder. The jury was undecided about the attempted murder of another four newborns.
British media outlets reported that the verdicts mean that Letby is “the most prolific child serial killer in the United Kingdom’s modern history,” according to the Post.
“Today is not a time for celebration. There are no winners in this case,” Nicola Evans, detective chief inspector for the Cheshire Constabulary, said in a statement obtained by the Post. “Our focus right now is very much on the families of the babies. The compassion and strength shown by the parents — and wider family members — has been overwhelming.”
Letby worked as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester, which is in northwestern England, according to The New York Times.
The incidents happened between June 2015 and June 2016. Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies in her ward. Ministers are investigating how Letby was able to carry out so many attacks prior to being reported to the police, according to The Guardian.
Jurors learned during the trial that Letby had harmed the babies in her care in multiple ways, including overfeeding them with milk as well as injecting them with air and insulin, the Times reported. She denied the accusations. Prosecutors claimed that she had intended to kill the babies and blamed their deaths on natural causes.
Letby is expected to be sentenced Monday. According to the Times, she is expected to get a “whole life order” which essentially means she’ll spend the rest of her life in prison with little to no chance of being released.
The babies’ identities have been protected by a court order, according to CNN. This applies to babies that died and babies that survived.
