Lucy Letby wrote a group email to nurses claiming she had been “completely exonerated” just days after doctors were ordered to “draw the line” under their suspicions she had killed and harmed babies in her care.
The serial child killer told colleagues at the Countess of Chester Hospital that she had been “redeployed” from the neonatal unit following “serious” allegations that were “unfounded and “untrue”.
In the email, she said she would return “in a few weeks” and urged them to be “sensitive and supportive” to her upon her return, the public inquiry heard.
Letby, 34, had been removed from frontline nursing in July 2016 after consultant paediatricians raised concerns to management that she was behind a rise in unexpected and unexplained baby deaths and collapses.
But seven months later, chief executive Tony Chambers told consultants to “draw a line under the ‘Lucy problem’ after claiming two external reviews had found no evidence of criminality”.
Letby, 34, was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more in the neonatal unit at the Countess between June 2015 and June 2016.
Letby’s crimes took place at the Countess of Chester Hospital, where she worked as a nurse.
Mr Chambers was “dictatorial” at the January 2017 extraordinary meeting, the investigation heard, ordering doctors to apologize to Letby for alleged derogatory comments after she complained that some had publicly referred to her as the “angel of death.”
Days later, on January 31, Letby sent the group’s email to the unit’s nurses in which she wrote: “Dear Colleagues, I was reassigned from the unit in July 2016 following serious and distressing allegations of a personal and professional nature. made by some members”. of the medical team. From then until now I have not been able to visit or contact the unit while these matters were investigated.
‘After a thorough investigation it was established that all allegations were unfounded and false and I have therefore been completely exonerated. I have received a full apology from the trust.
‘As you can imagine, this whole episode has been distressing for me and my family. I will begin my return to the unit in the coming weeks. I will need my colleagues to be sensitive and supportive at this time.
“Thank you very much Lucy Letby.”
According to the investigation, the consultants refused to abandon their concerns and Letby’s return was postponed. Hospital bosses finally called Cheshire Police in May 2017 and she continued to work in an administrative role at the Countess until her arrest 14 months later.
Nurse Ashleigh Hudson told the inquest she had no idea Letby was being accused of deliberately harming babies until she received her email because the investigation was kept secret and secret.
He said none of the consultants shared their concerns with the nursing team or were “frank” with them.
Lucy Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 life sentences after being convicted of murdering seven babies.
A general view of the Countess of Chester Hospital, where nurse Lucy Letby used to work
It was only when Letby was arrested and police began “forensically” looking at shifts and events that things began to add up and they realized Letby had harmed patients, Nurse Hudson added.
She and another nurse, Melanie Taylor, described the text messages Letby sent them following the babies’ deaths as “inappropriate” and “disgusting.”
Nurse Taylor also told the inquiry about an incident in which Letby approached her at the start of a shift and told her in an “excited” and “gossipy” manner that a baby had just died.
He said he found the incident unusual, adding: “There were parts of his personality that were a little strange to me.”
‘I didn’t have any suspicions… that didn’t cross my mind. I personally had no concerns with his nursing care, but I didn’t like the way he spoke to other staff members. I felt like it wasn’t the most professional thing to do.”
Letby, from Hereford, is serving 15 life sentences after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.
The research is expected to take place at Liverpool City Hall until early next year, with the results published in late autumn 2025.
