Former neonatal nurse and convicted serial killer Lucy Letby may face further criminal charges, it has emerged today.
Cheshire Constabulary has confirmed it has submitted evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) surrounding further deaths and collapses of babies at two hospitals where Letby, 35, had worked.
Letby is serving life in prison the murder of seven babies, and attempted murder of six others, at the Countess of Chester Hospital, the hospital at which she worked, in 2015 and 2016.
Since Letby’s conviction in 2023, Cheshire Police has continued to explore deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the hospital between 2012 and 2015 through Operation Hummingbird, the taskforce set up to investigate the former nurse when allegations first arose.
The investigation has also included deaths and non-fatal collapses at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, at which Letby had two work placements in the relevant period
A CPS spokesperson said today that the organisation had received a “full file of evidence” from Cheshire Constabulary, asking it to consider “further allegations” in relation to these deaths.
It did not explicitly state that these allegations had been made against Letby. But the police confirmed that the evidence had been submitted as part of Operation Hummingbird, which centred on the former nurse.
In addition, shortly after news of the submission was made public, Letby defence lawyer Mark McDonald released a statement referring to Cheshire police releasing “stories to journalists regarding her guilt”.
The CPS decides whether a charge can be brought against an individual, balancing evidence from police and investigators.
“We will now carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought,” the CPS spokesperson said.
“As always, we will make that decision independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test,” they added.
A Cheshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Cheshire Constabulary has submitted a full file of evidence to the CPS for charging advice regarding the ongoing investigation into deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neonatal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital as part of Operation Hummingbird.”
The Countess of Chester hospital trust said it would not be inappropriate to comment at this time due to the ongoing police investigations.
Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust has also been contacted for comment.
Meanwhile, the police have continued to investigate the circumstances surrounding the murders for which Letby was convicted in 2023, separate to Operation Hummingbird.
Earlier this week, this parallel investigation led to the arrest of three former senior leaders at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
