Police arrest former bosses of hospital where U.K. nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering babies

London — Three former senior leaders at the British hospital where nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, police said Tuesday.

All three were part of the senior leadership team at the Countess of Chester Hospital in the northwest of England between 2015 and 2016, when Letby was found to have killed the babies and attempted to kill seven others.

Letby, 35, is serving 15 consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole, but there have been questions raised about the evidence used in her trial, and her lawyer has filed for a formal review of the case.

In October 2023, following Letby’s conviction, the Cheshire Constabulary police force launched an investigation into potential corporate manslaughter at the hospital, focusing on the decision-making of senior bosses, “to determine whether any criminality has taken place concerning the response to the increased levels of fatalities,” according to a Tuesday statement by Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes.

That investigation was widened to include the charge of gross negligence manslaughter, leading to the arrest of the three former leaders. All three have been released on bail pending further investigation, the police said.

“Both the corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter elements of the investigation are continuing and there are no set timescales for these,” Hughes said.

“It is important to note that this does not impact on the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple offenses of murder and attempted murder,” he added.

The Cheshire police are also investigating deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neonatal units of the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital between 2012 and 2016, where Letby did her training.

Lucy Letby’s controversial murder conviction

Since her conviction, there have been significant concerns voiced over the evidence used to secure Letby’s conviction, with The New Yorker, The Guardian, Private Eye and other outlets reporting on possible alleged flaws in the trial proceedings.

In February, a group of experts held a news conference to dispute the medical evidence used to convict Letby.

Dr. Shoo Lee, a retired Canadian neonatologist, said the group of 14 doctors had concluded that the newborns died either of natural causes or from insufficient medical care.

“In summary then, ladies and gentlemen, we did not find murders,” Lee said at the time

Letby has maintained her innocence. 

Her defense attorney Mark McDonald said in April that the experts’ findings had “completely demolished” the case against Letby, whom he argues was wrongly convicted. McDonald said he had submitted an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which has the power to send cases back to the Court of Appeal.

The CCRC has given no date for when a decision might be reached. 

In a statement sent to CBS News on Tuesday, McDonald said that despite the news of the three new arrests, “the concerns many have raised will not go away, and we will continue to publicly discuss them.”

“What is needed is a proper and full public inquiry into the failings of the neonatal and paediatric medical care unit at the Countess of Chester hospital,” McDonald said, repeating his assertion that Letby was wrongfully convicted.