Nov. 12 (UPI) — A judge read aloud charges in court Thursday against a British nurse charged with murder of eight babies and attempted murder of 10 at a hospital from 2015-2016.
District Judge Nicholas Sanders took over 2 1/2 minutes to read out all the charges against Lucy Letby, 30, who appeared at Warrington Magistrates’ Court by video link, Sky News reported.
The names of the children under 12 months of age who were allegedly murdered appeared on a court list as Cemlyn Bennett, Joseph Johnson, Elsie McNall, Barney Gee, Daisy Parkin, Maddie Freed, Joseph Gelder and Eli Gelder.
A lawyer of two bereaved families told Sky News this has been “an incredibly difficult time” for them.
Letby was re-arrested on Tuesday as part of the probe launched in May 2017 into infant deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
“The Crown Prosecution Service has authorized Cheshire Police to charge a healthcare professional with murder in connection with an ongoing investigation into a number of baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital,” a Cheshire police statement said.
Letby was previously arrested in 2018 and 2019 in connection with the probe into the deaths at the neo-natal unit, BBC reported.
“We acknowledge the new and significant development in this case, which is of serious concern to the Trust,” Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said in a statement Wednesday.
“We are fully supportive and respectful of the judicial processes and as such will not be making any further comments at this stage. Our thoughts continue to be with all the families involved.”
