Lucy Letby was given new hope in her bid for freedom today after an expert claimed one of the babies she was convicted of killing had been exposed to a deadly bug.
The nurse is serving 15 whole-life orders after being convicted of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one victim.
But her defence team have revealed traces of the same bug that killed three babies at a hospital in Glasgow were found in the Countess of Chester where Letby worked.
The 36-year-old’s lawyers discovered that Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, a water-borne bacteria, had been in the endotracheal tube of Baby I in February last year.
It comes after Letby’s trial heard the nurse killed the girl at the fourth attempt after giving her a deliberate fatal overdose of air and overfeeding her with milk.
Detectives are now carrying out a fatal accident investigation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow after three children and three adults there died from the bug.
This hospital admitted that contaminated water was likely to have caused serious infections in young cancer patients after denying any connection for six years.
Now, obstetrician Dr Martyn Pitman has called for a similar line of inquiry at Countess of Chester which could prove Letby was not responsible for the deaths.
Lucy Letby, 36, of Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after being convicted of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one victim
He told The Sun: ‘It is potentially hugely relevant and important – it always has been.’
Dr Pitman was sacked in 2023 after raising whistleblowing concerns about midwifery care at the Royal Hampshire Hospital in Winchester.
More to follow
