Lucy Letby: Doctor dismissed idea of baby killer on loose as 'so fantastical' it couldn't be true

Twisted neonatal caregiver Lucy Letby became the UK's astir prolific kid slayer aft murdering 7 newborns and trying to termination different six astatine the Countess of Chester Hospital

A elder doc has told the Lucy Letby nationalist enquiry that she dismissed the thought of a poisoner connected the escaped astatine a neonatal portion arsenic “so fantastical” it could not beryllium true.

Child serial slayer caregiver Letby attempted to execution 1 of her 14 victims, Child F, successful aboriginal August 2015 by giving him insulin soon aft she murdered his duplicate brother, Child E, and pursuing her murders of 3 different infants successful June 2015.

Letby’s onslaught spree astatine the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal portion continued until June 2016 with the murders of 2 of a acceptable of triplets.

Giving grounds connected Monday, a advisor paediatrician, who cannot beryllium identified for ineligible reasons, told the Thirlwall Inquiry into events surrounding Letby’s crimes that she “deeply regrets” rejecting the thought that idiosyncratic had deliberately harmed Child F aft humor tests results revealed abnormally precocious levels of insulin.

The doctor, referred to arsenic Dr ZA, recalled discussing the results erstwhile they came backmost from the laboratory astir a week aboriginal with a colleague, by which clip the youngster had recovered from the hypoglycaemic episode.

Dr ZA told the hearing: “We checked it was not prescribed. We checked that no-one other connected the portion was connected insulin reasoning it was done accidentally but the thought that idiosyncratic could beryllium doing it deliberately was truthful fantastical and improbable that it could not perchance person happened.

“At the clip I dismissed the thought of idiosyncratic deliberately administering insulin due to the fact that it seemed truthful intolerable but I profoundly regret that is however I interpreted things, some for Child E and F’s parents and the parents of babies that happened subsequently.”

The doc was asked by counsel to the enquiry Nicholas de la Poer KC if the lawsuit of chap kid serial slayer caregiver Beverley Allitt had not perchance crossed her caput arsenic a “real beingness explanation”.

She replied: “No, I don’t cognize wherefore not. I had benignant of grown up with the cognition of Beverley Allitt and what she did, and besides aboriginal Harold Shipman, but it conscionable ne'er occurred to maine that this was thing that happened connected my ward with the patients I was looking after.”

Dr ZA agreed she should person informed Child F’s parents astir the hypoglycaemia and the abnormal humor results.

She besides told the enquiry it was the “wrong decision” not to instrumentality immoderate enactment implicit the results.

Richard Baker KC, representing families of Letby’s victims, suggested to Dr ZA she did not request to deliberation it was an attempted execution to instrumentality enactment and it was a “serious information issue” nevertheless the insulin got there. The medic agreed: “Yes, I should person flagged it.”

By March 2016, the enquiry heard, she said she considered it imaginable that Letby whitethorn beryllium harming babies, though she did not nexus the concerns to Child F’s humor trial results until much than a twelvemonth aboriginal erstwhile constabulary had already been called successful by the hospital.

Dr ZA said: “It was a wide feeling of unease astatine the sudden, unexpected and unexplained quality of the events and the correlation with Letby being contiguous but cipher benignant of knew precisely what she was doing. It was that benignant of uncomfortable relation astatine that constituent and the deficiency of different plausible explanation.”

Following the deaths of triplets Child O and P successful June 2016, she felt the relation “had gone acold beyond coincidence and her moving pattern” and that Letby whitethorn beryllium progressive successful immoderate mode “either by unconscious incompetence oregon by a deliberate act”.

Those concerns were made wide by the consultants to the hospital’s elder management, she said. Letby was past moved from the neonatal portion to non-patient duties arsenic the infirmary commissioned an autarkic outer complaint into the accrued mortality rate.

Dr ZA said: “It seemed initially they didn’t privation to perceive to our concerns and past implicit clip arsenic we became much persistent it seemed that they wanted america to beryllium quiescent and unopen up astir it.”

She recalled “very clearly” a gathering connected January 26 2017 betwixt the consultants and the enforcement directors group. She told the inquiry: “There was a precise adversarial ambiance from the infinitesimal we archetypal entered the room.

“The elder management, each of them, seemed to beryllium speaking with the aforesaid code and it precise overmuch seemed similar we had been called into the headmaster’s bureau similar naughty schoolchildren.

“Tony Chambers (the main executive) said helium was ‘drawing a enactment and we were not to transverse it’ and it was said successful rather a threatening tone. I precise overmuch took it to mean that if we continued to transportation connected raising our concerns past my occupation would beryllium astatine risk.”

She went on: “When raising concerns we were initially ignored past aboriginal actively bullied and victimised. I deliberation determination was a mendacious communicative processing that (paediatric services lead) Dr (Ravi) Jayaram and (neonatal lead) Dr (Stephen) Brearey were ringleaders alternatively than we were each professionals who had travel to the aforesaid conclusion.

“Also I had immoderate psyche searching astir astatine what constituent I would beryllium blessed to halt raising concerns and halt pushing. I decided that the lone constituent I would consciousness that I could slumber astatine nighttime was that if Lucy Letby was not moving arsenic a caregiver oregon successful a akin position…and adjacent if I mislaid my occupation we should persist with this until we reached this outcome.”

Cheshire Police were not brought successful to analyse the accrued mortality complaint until May 2017 and Letby remained astatine the infirmary until her archetypal apprehension successful July 2018.

Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders aft she was convicted astatine Manchester Crown Court of murdering 7 infants and attempting to execution 7 others, with 2 attempts connected 1 of her victims, betwixt June 2015 and June 2016. The enquiry is expected to beryllium astatine Liverpool Town Hall until aboriginal adjacent year, with findings published by precocious autumn 2025.