A neonatal nurse has claimed she and others in her profession are no longer trusted and are under ‘constant suspicion’ in the wake of the Lucy Letby case.
Killer Letby was found guilty for the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others, with two attempts on one child.
Today, the Hereford-born nurse tried to appeal against her convictions for the attempted murder of babies but it was denied.
An anonymous baby nurse has said the now-infamous killer has led to a ‘lack of trust’ with families who now watch them ‘constantly’.
Lucy Letby, 34, was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016
Letby as she was arrested in 2018. The former neonatal nurse is serving a whole life term after an application to appeal her conviction was rejected by the courts
A neonatal nurse has claimed she and others in her profession are no longer trusted and are under ‘constant suspicion’ in the wake of the Lucy Letby case. Stock image
Writing in the i, the nurse said she is ‘heartbroken’ for the families of the babies who died during Letby’s time working at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
She is now ‘constantly paranoid’ about her own work, triple checking each task and staying late over the worry her notes could be analysed in court.
But Letby’s case also caused a ‘huge divide’ between nurses and doctors, with the former feeling like the latter ‘don’t trust us anymore’.
The anonymous woman said the ‘intense bond’ that nurses usually form with families is no longer there, as she doesn’t connect with them in fear that this relationshop could be misconstrued.
She said: ‘Everything has changed. Work has become miserable, filled with fear and worry that being a loving, caring, could somehow backfire on me.’
The hospital where she works is talking about installing CCTV – but only in the neonatal unit.
The nurse went on to voice her fear of the repercussions of whistleblowing from within the NHS and said it is easy for management to get rid of a ‘troublemaker’.
She said: ‘It’s easier to pretend these issues aren’t happening because if you speak out, you’re shunned. There’s a real fear of what could happen if you’re labelled as someone who complains too much.’
Letby was employed as a nurse by the Countess of Chester hospital in January 2012
Image of the corridor within the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit (showing the entrances to nurseries 2,3 and 4)
It comes after three of the country’s most senior judges ruled the 34-year-old former neo-natal nurse Letby will not be allowed to challenge the guilty verdict of the jury at Manchester Crown Court.
The decision marks the end of the road for Letby, who is serving 15 whole life tariffs, and will die in jail.
She was convicted of attempting to murder the newborn, known as Baby K, following a retrial in July. Letby tampered with the infant’s breathing tube within hours of her birth at the Countess of Chester Hospital, causing her to collapse.
The child died three days later after being transferred to a more specialist unit.
Letby’s barrister, Ben Myers KC, argued the judge who presided over the retrial, Mr Justice Goss, was wrong to reject an application to ‘stay’ the attempted murder charge and allow it to go ahead in the first place.
He said she couldn’t get a fair trial because no juror would have been ‘immune’ to the ‘long blaze of adverse publicity’ which continued for five weeks after Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six more, at Manchester Crown Court, 10 months earlier.
Photo issued by Cheshire Constabulary/CPS of a hand written note which was shown in court at the Lucy Letby trial. It was found by police in Ms Letby’s home at Westbourne Road, Chester
Photo issued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of a note found in the house of Lucy Letby, which was shown at her trial at Manchester Crown Court
Mr Myers also said comments made in the media afterwards, including on the BBC’s Panorama and ITV’s Loose Women, were ‘saturated with unadulterated vitriol’ towards his client.
Remarks made by senior politicians, such as the then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and witnesses, police officers and prosecutors involved in the case, who described her as ‘evil, manipulative, cold and devious,’ were also ‘unprecedented, exceptional and deeply prejudicial,’ he said.
But Nicholas Johnson KC, for the Crown, dismissed Mr Myers’ argument and said comments made by police ‘accurately and moderately’ described the serious offences that Letby had been convicted of. He also pointed out that most of the news reporting took aim at the ‘shortcomings’ of hospital management, and was not directed at Letby herself.
Today Lord Justice William Davis, sitting with Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mrs Justice McGowan at London’s Court of Appeal, agreed with Mr Johnson and said Letby’s application had been refused.
Letby, who watched the hearing via a video link from HMP Bronzefield, remained impassive and gave no reaction as the decision was announced.
Lord Justice Davis said Mr Justice Goss had presided over both the original trial and the retrial and his experience as a criminal judge was ‘unrivalled.’
He said staying a charge was an ‘exceptional step to take’ in the British justice system and Mr Justice Goss was ‘entirely correct’ to find it would not be unfair to try Letby for the single offence.
‘It follows that we refuse her application for leave to appeal against conviction,’ Lord Justice Davis said.
‘The judge was right to find that Letby would be able to have a fair trial.’
