Two baby deaths still being probed - Letby inquiry

Police are continuing to investigate two baby deaths linked to the hospital where child serial killer Lucy Letby worked, the public inquiry examining her crimes has heard.

A document prepared by the Thirlwall Inquiry's legal team said there had been 13 deaths at the Countess of Chester's neonatal unit between 2015 and 2016, while four had died after they had been transferred to neonatal units at other hospitals.

While all 17 deaths have been examined by Cheshire Constabulary, the public inquiry heard that two of them - either at the Countess of Chester or elsewhere post-transfer - "remain the subject of ongoing police investigation".

Cheshire Constabulary declined to comment.

Last month, it emerged Letby, now 35, had been questioned under caution in prison by detectives probing deaths and non-fatal collapses at both the Countess of Chester and also at Liverpool Women's Hospital, where the neonatal nurse trained as a student.

Police have been reviewing the hospital care of 4,000 babies admitted from when Letby started her employment in January 2012 until the end of June 2016.

The review includes two work placements Letby undertook in Liverpool in 2012 and 2015.

Police previously emphasised that only cases highlighted as medically concerning would be investigated further.

Letby was ultimately convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.

While one of her attempted murder victims, Child K, died days after Letby deliberately dislodged her breathing tube, prosecutors said she had not ultimately caused her death.

The other nine babies who died in 2015 and 2016 - and did not feature in Letby's criminal trials - are included in the overview document produced by the Thirlwall Inquiry's legal team.

Among details listed in the document are either the cause of death that was recorded post-mortem, or the registered cause of death.

Several of them cited congenital conditions.

Following Letby's convictions, police said some of the 17 deaths - 10 in 2015 and seven in the first half of 2016 - were no longer under investigation because a natural or biological cause had been identified.

The inquiry heard that three babies died on the Countess of Chester's neonatal unit in 2012.

Two died during the following year while in 2014 there were three deaths.

Letby, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life sentences after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of seven counts of murder and eight counts of attempted murder. She made two attempts to kill one of the babies.

The public inquiry, chaired by Lady Justice Thirlwall, is hearing its final week of evidence at Liverpool Town Hall.

Her findings are expected to be published in the autumn.

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