Corporate manslaughter probe into UK child killer hospital

Pallade Veneta - Corporate manslaughter probe into UK child killer hospital

HEALTH 04.10.2023

Corporate manslaughter probe into UK child killer hospital / Photo: Lindsey Parnaby - AFP

UK police on Wednesday said they were carrying out a corporate manslaughter investigation at the hospital where a neo-natal nurse killed seven new-born babies in her care and tried to murder six others.

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Lucy Letby, 33, was given a whole-life sentence in August after being convicted of the murders at the Countess of Cheshire Hospital in Chester, northwest England.

Cheshire Constabulary said the corporate manslaughter probe will focus on the period when Letby committed her crimes between June 2015 and June 2016.

It will consider "areas including senior leadership and decision-making to determine whether any criminality has taken place", said Detective Superintendent Simon Blackwell.

"At this stage we are not investigating any individuals in relation to gross negligence manslaughter," he added, stressing the investigation was "in the very early stages".

The jury in the lengthy trial which ended in July was unable to reach a verdict on six charges of attempted murder relating to five babies -- three girls and two boys.

Last month, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which brings prosecutions in England and Wales, said it will seek a retrial on a charge that Letby attempted to murder a baby girl in February 2016.

A provisional trial date has been set for June next year.

Letby, originally from Hereford in the west of England, denied all the charges against her and has since lodged an appeal against her convictions.

None of the dead or surviving children can be identified because of a court order from the judge.

The government has announced that an independent public inquiry will be held to look at how the concerns of clinicians at the Countess of Chester Hospital were dealt with by hospital management.

Executives were criticised for allegedly failing to act sooner on concerns about Letby, which were reportedly raised by senior doctors as early as 2015.

E.Magrini--PV

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