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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
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4 min read | |
Three former bosses of UK nurse Lucy Letby, convicted of killing | |
babies, arrested on suspicion of manslaughter | |
By Lauren Kent, CNN | |
Updated: | |
12:12 PM EDT, Tue July 1, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
Three people who were part of the senior leadership team at the | |
hospital where nurse and worked have been arrested on suspicion of | |
gross negligence manslaughter, British police said Tuesday. | |
The three senior staff members, who have not been named by police, | |
worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016 at the same | |
time as Letby. All three suspects have been released on bail after | |
being questioned by police on Monday. | |
“It is important to note that this does not impact on the convictions | |
of Lucy Letby for multiple offences of murder and attempted murder,” | |
Cheshire Constabulary Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes said in a | |
statement. | |
The aspect of the investigation related to the latest arrests focuses | |
on the “grossly negligent action or inaction of individuals,” | |
police said. Meanwhile, another ongoing part of the investigation into | |
the separate offence of corporate manslaughter “focuses on senior | |
leadership and their decision making to determine whether any | |
criminality has taken place concerning the response to the increased | |
levels of fatalities.” | |
Letby, 34, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting | |
to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in | |
the neonatal unit of the hospital in Chester, England. The former nurse | |
is serving 15 whole-life sentences. | |
The court heard during the case in 2023 that Letby attacked babies in | |
her care by administering air into their blood and stomachs, | |
overfeeding them with milk, physically assaulting them, and poisoning | |
them with insulin. | |
However, her convictions have been criticized after an international | |
panel of experts raised questions regarding the medical evidence. | |
The panel said there was no medical evidence indicating murder and that | |
the babies’ collapses resulted from “either natural causes or bad | |
medical care.” | |
It also highlighted issues of unsafe delays in diagnosis and treatments | |
at Countess of Chester Hospital and said that in some cases staff were | |
working “probably beyond their expected ability or designated level | |
of care,” according to | |
Last week, former UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt called for an | |
“urgent reexamination” after experts raised “serious and | |
credible” questions. | |
Independent experts “are saying there is no medical evidence in the | |
17 deaths that were examined in the trial of what they call | |
maleficence, of malicious intent,” Hunt said in an interview with | |
Good Morning Britain, calling for a speedy review by the UK’s | |
Criminal Cases Review Commission. “If they are saying that, then I | |
really think we need to do this.” | |
“I am not arguing that Letby is innocent. That is not my place… The | |
pain endured by the families affected must also be at the forefront of | |
our minds,” published in the Daily Mail newspaper last month, arguing | |
that the families deserve the truth. “And if medical error was the | |
cause, we can then make sure no more babies die from the same | |
mistakes.” | |
Letby has maintained her innocence and her lawyer Mark McDonald | |
submitted an application earlier this year for her case to be reviewed | |
by the commission. Letby’s previous attempts to overturn her | |
convictions have been refused by the court. | |
McDonald told the UK’s PA Media on Tuesday that a proper and full | |
public inquiry into failings by the hospital’s neonatal and pediatric | |
medical care unit is needed. | |
“The concerns many have raised will not go away, and we will continue | |
to publicly discuss them,” McDonald said, according to PA. “The | |
reality is that 26 internationally renowned experts have looked at this | |
case and the lead expert has concluded that no crime was committed, no | |
babies were murdered.” | |
A is set to be published in early 2026. That inquiry previously heard | |
evidence from the senior hospital leadership about the concerns raised | |
regarding the rise in infant deaths at the neonatal unit, and the | |
actions taken as a result. | |
Cheshire Police said they were continuing to investigate “the deaths | |
and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the | |
Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital,” | |
at which Letby undertook training placements. The elements of the | |
investigation related to corporate manslaughter and gross negligence | |
manslaughter are also ongoing, police said. | |
A spokeswoman for the Countess of Chester Hospital said it “would not | |
be appropriate” for the hospital to comment due to “the ongoing | |
police investigations” and public inquiry, PA reported. | |
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