Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

A former U.K. nurse will be retried on a charge that she tried to murder a baby girl at a hospital

Share
LONDON -

A former neonatal nurse who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of seven babies in her care and trying to kill six others at a U.K. hospital will face a retrial on a charge of attempting to murder a newborn baby girl, prosecutors said Monday.

Lucy Letby, 33, was sentenced last month to life behind bars with no chance of release after a jury convicted her of murdering seven babies in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016. She was also convicted of trying to murder six other infants.

However, the jury of seven women and four men in her 10-month trial was not able to reach verdicts on six counts of attempted murder in relation to five other newborns. Letby had faced two counts of attempted murder against one of the newborns.

The Crown Prosecution Service said Monday it wanted to pursue a retrial on one of those outstanding charges, which involved a baby girl known only as Child K in February 2016.

Letby attended Monday's hearing by video from prison, and spoke only to confirm her name.

A provisional trial date was set for June 10, 2024.

Letby was handed the most severe punishment possible under British law, which does not allow the death penalty. A judge said she acted with "malevolence bordering sadism." Only three other women have received such a harsh sentence in the U.K.

The former nurse was accused of deliberately harming the babies in various ways, including by injecting air into their bloodstreams and administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes. She was also accused of poisoning infants by adding insulin to intravenous feeds and interfering with breathing tubes.

The victims were given anonymity and listed only by letters.

Britain's government launched an independent inquiry soon after the verdicts that will look into the wider circumstances around what happened at the hospital, including the handling of complaints raised by staff who had tried to sound the alarm on Letby.

Prosecutors confirmed they wished to pursue the single count involving Child K but not the other five counts of attempted murder. "These decisions on whether to seek retrials on the remaining counts of attempted murder were extremely complex and difficult," Jonathan Storer, a senior prosecutor in northern England, said in a statement.

Lawyers representing the other families described the decision not to seek further retrials as disappointing.

"We believe that the families of the further alleged victims still have questions that are unanswered and they deserve to know what happened to their children," said lawyer Tamlin Bolton from the law firm Switalskis.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.

A gargantuan gourd – affectionately named ‘Orangina’ by the urban gardeners who grew it in the front yard of their Vancouver home – earned the massive honour of being named B.C.’s heaviest giant pumpkin Saturday.

The eight sons of Richard and Sarah Harvie from Gormanville, N.S., are believed to be the most siblings from one family, from either North America or the British Commonwealth, to serve in World War II.

Ontario Provincial Police say a man has died after striking obstacles on the St. Lawrence River while driving a personal watercraft.

Some Manitobans are cleaning up Sunday morning, after intense winds barreled through southern parts of the province Saturday.

Local Spotlight

Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.

Bubi’s Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.

Some Manitobans are cleaning up Sunday morning, after intense winds barreled through southern parts of the province Saturday.

Avry Wortman, 13, scored two touchdowns on Sunday during her team's win in the under 14 Greater Moncton Football Association.

A gargantuan gourd – affectionately named ‘Orangina’ by the urban gardeners who grew it in the front yard of their Vancouver home – earned the massive honour of being named B.C.’s heaviest giant pumpkin Saturday.

Chantal Kreviazuk is set to return to Winnipeg to mark a major milestone in her illustrious musical career.

From the beaches of Cannes to the bustling streets of New York City, a new film by a trio of Manitoba directors has toured the international film festival circuit to much pomp and circumstance.

A husband and wife have been on the road trip of a lifetime and have decided to stop in Saskatchewan for the winter.

The grave of a previously unknown Canadian soldier has been identified as a man from Hayfield, Man. who fought in the First World War.