Lucy Letby Hereford nurse pleads not guilty to murder of 8 babies & attempted murder of another ten. Former darling of Countess of Chester Hospital enters plea as trial is set for next year.
A UK nurse has denied murdering eight babies and the attempted murder of 10 others over the period of a year.
Lucy Letby, who worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit, entered her plea at Manchester Crown Court on Monday.
The 31-year-old pleaded not guilty 18 times as the charges were put to her over a video link from HMP Peterborough, where she is currently on remand.
The former golden nurse who was the poster child of Chester Hospital is alleged to have murdered five boys and three girls while working at the hospital in Chester.
Letby, of Arran Avenue, Hereford, is also accused of the attempted murder of five boys and five girls, with all alleged offences committed between June 2015 and June 2016.
Abnormal rates of unexplained baby deaths
Monday’s hearing largely dealt with administrative matters and after entering her pleas, the accused woman sat listening to the hearing reported Skynews.
Letby had first been detained by Cheshire Police back in 2018 after a spike in the number of deaths at her neonatal unit.
She was re-arrested over the same alleged offences in 2019 and again last year.
Police launched an investigation after the hospital raised concerns at the high number of deaths between March 2015 and July 2016 – which were said to be 10 per cent above average.
An internal inquiry was undertaken when medics found premature babies had died following heart and lung failure, but were unusually impossible to resuscitate.
Reporting restrictions are in place ahead of a trial, now scheduled for October next year.
The estimated length of the trial, to be held at Manchester Crown Court, is six months.
Authorities have yet to say what led to Letby allegedly murdering her child victims.
