Lucy Letby, 33, was charged with murder in the deaths of five baby boys and two girls, and attempted murder in the deaths of five boys and five girls, while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital in north-west England, between 2015 and 2016.
She was charged with intentionally injuring newborns in a variety of ways, including injecting air into their bloodstreams and injecting air or milk into their stomachs through neogastric tubes.
She was also charged with poisoning babies by inserting insulin into IV lines and tampering with their breathing tubes.
Letby denies all the accusations.
A jury of seven women and four men deliberated 22 days before reaching the verdict. One juror had to leave the trial in the middle of the trial for personal reasons and the judge gave the other 11 the option of reaching their decision with 10 people instead of unanimously.
Letby was found not guilty on one count of attempted murder and the jury was unable to reach consensus on other charges.
Some of the verdicts were announced in court days ago, but the judge prohibited broadcasting them until the deliberations were complete. Letby held back tears on Aug. 8 when the jury found her guilty on two counts of attempted murder, and she broke down in tears as she left the courtroom. She subsequently refused to go to the courtroom when the other rulings were read.
During the long trial, which began in October last year, the prosecution reported that in 2015 the hospital recorded a sharp increase in the number of babies who died or whose health deteriorated considerably. Some suffered “catastrophic collapses” but survived thanks to the intervention of hospital staff.
Prosecutors claimed Letby was on duty when all the cases occurred and called her a “constant malevolent presence” in the neonatal unit when babies fainted or died. They added that she hurt the babies in such a way that she did not leave much of a mark, and that she persuaded her colleagues that stunting and deaths were normal.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
