BRITAIN’S most prolific child killer Lucy Letby has been convicted of trying to murder a premature baby girl following a retrial.
The evil nurse was previously convicted of murdering seven babies in a year-long reign of terror at Countess of Chester Hospital.
Letby, 33, also attempted to kill six others and was handed a whole life order that means she will be never be released from prison.
She was today convicted of attempting to murder a baby girl by dislodging her breathing tube.
Jurors at her original trial were unable to reach verdicts on the count – meaning she underwent a retrial.
Baby K’s parents gasped then cried as the verdict was returned in just under four hours of deliberation, while Letby showed no emotion.
The court heard the tot was born “extremely premature” on February 17, 2016 – weighing just 1lb 80z.
Around two hours after she was born, Letby was “caught virtually red-handed” trying to kill the baby, who was described as the “epitome of fragility”.
A senior consultant paediatrician saw the nurse standing over the cot “doing nothing” as Baby K’s blood oxygen levels dipped.
Evil Letby even tampered with the baby’s breathing tube twice more on the same night in a bid to convince her colleagues the tot was dislodging it herself.
Baby K was transported to Arrowe Park Hospital and sadly died three days later – although prosecutors do not believe the nurse caused her death.
The child’s mum wept as she told the court how her baby passed away in her husband’s arms following the horror.
Recalling how she had the “strangest feeling” something was wrong, she added: “The doctor confirmed the worst. I asked if it was just a waiting game now or if she was going to get better.
“We had a long conversation and she said what happens next was entirely our decision.
“I remember saying to the doctor that she had been poked and prodded from the moment she was born. Her tiny little delicate body had swollen up so much we didn’t want her to be suffering any more.
“We didn’t want to be informed that we’d lost our little girl by alarms on the machines going off. We didn’t want to prolong things any more.
“We made the decision together to switch off the machines and let her go. It was by far the hardest decision of my life.
“One of the staff showed us to a family room where it was peaceful and quiet. Our daughter was wrapped in a blanket and was wearing a little hat. Our daughter was in my husband’s arms when she took her last breath and silently passed away.”
More than two years later, Letby searched on Facebook for Baby K’s surname – a similar pattern of behaviour for the monster.
Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said: “The truth is that Lucy Letby had a fascination with the babies she had murdered and attempted to murder, and with their families.
“She took pleasure in her murderous handiwork.”
But giving evidence, Letby told lie after lie as she claimed she no recollection of the heartbreaking events.
She even continued to maintain her innocence over her previous grisly crimes.
The nurse, who had attempted to get the case thrown out, also said she was “not the sort of person that kills babies“.
Letby became only the fourth woman ever to be handed whole life tariff after Rose West, Joanna Dennehy and Myra Hindley.
She was convicted of seven counts of murder on Friday following a nine-month trial and 22 days of jury deliberation.
Letby was also found guilty of attempting to murder a further six babies during her year-long killing spree.
The monster used insulin and air to inject newborns while working on the neo-natal ward.
The collapses and deaths of the children were not “naturally-occurring tragedies” and instead the gruesome work of “poisoner” Letby.
Her rampage was finally uncovered after staff grew suspicious of the “significant rise” in the number of babies dying or suffering “catastrophic” collapses.
Letby was found to be the “common denominator” among the horrifying incidents.
Officers then searched her three-bedroom home in Chester and discovered a chilling cache of evidence.
The nurse had scribbled haunting notes in diaries and on Post-It notes, including one that read: “I am evil I did this.”
By Holly Christodoulou, Digital Court Editor
EVIL Lucy Letby avoided her sentencing in what the families of her victims described as a “final act of wickedness from a coward”.
Hiding in her cell, she never heard Mr Justice Goss’ damning remarks as he sealed her fate with a whole life order that will see her die in jail.
However, Nick Johnson KC, prosecuting, ensured the nurse would finally hear the words she had been avoiding for nearly ten months.
While Letby had no choice to sit in the dock ahead of her trial, the prosecutor seized his opportunity to read from the judge’s transcript.
The monster was told there was “pre-meditation, calculation and cunning” in her depraved actions.
The remarks added: “The great majority of your victims suffered acute pain as a result of what you did to them. They all fought for survival; some, sadly, struggled in vain and died.
“Loving parents have been robbed of their cherished children and others have to live with the physical and mental consequences of your actions.
“Siblings have been deprived of brothers and sisters. You have caused deep psychological trauma, brought enduring grief and feelings of guilt, caused strains in relationships and disruption to the lives of all the families of all your victims.”
Chillingly, Letby’s emotions did not betray her as it dawned on her what she was listening to for the first time.
Instead, she resorted to what she does best – wearing a mask to hide the evil within her.
The note added: “I don’t deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them.
“I am a horrible person.”
Speaking after the verdict, Senior Crown Prosecutor Nicola Wyn Williams, of CPS Mersey-Cheshire’s Complex Casework Unit, branded Letby a cold-blooded, calculated killer”.
She added: “Lucy Letby has continually denied that she tried to kill this baby or any of the babies that she has been convicted of murdering or attempting to murder.
“The jury has heard all of the detailed evidence including from her in her own defence and formed its own view.
“The grief that the family of Baby K have felt is unimaginable. Our thoughts remain with them and all those affected by this case at this time.”
Letby was remanded into custody to be sentenced on Friday.
Child A, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby injected air intravenously into the bloodstream of the baby boy. COUNT 1 GUILTY.
Child B, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby attempted to murder the baby girl, the twin sister of Child A, by injecting air into her bloodstream. COUNT 2 GUILTY.
Child C, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said Letby forced air down a feeding tube and into the stomach of the baby boy. COUNT 3 GUILTY.
Child D, allegation of murder. The Crown said air was injected intravenously into the baby girl. COUNT 4 GUILTY.
Child E, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby murdered the twin baby boy with an injection of air into the bloodstream and also deliberately caused bleeding to the infant. COUNT 5 GUILTY.
Child F, allegation of attempted murder. Letby was said by prosecutors to have poisoned the twin brother of Child E with insulin. COUNT 6 GUILTY.
Child G, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby targeted the baby girl by overfeeding her with milk and pushing air down her feeding tube. COUNT 7 GUILTY, COUNT 8 GUILTY, COUNT 9 NOT GUILTY.
Child H, two allegations of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby sabotaged the care of the baby girl in some way which led to two profound oxygen desaturations. COUNT 10 NOT GUILTY, COUNT 11 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child I, allegation of murder. The prosecution said Letby killed the baby girl at the fourth attempt and had given her air and overfed her with milk. COUNT 12 GUILTY.
Child J, allegation of attempted murder. No specific form of harm was identified by the prosecution but they said Letby did something to cause the collapse of the baby girl. COUNT 13 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child K, allegation of attempted murder. The prosecution said Letby compromised the baby girl as she deliberately dislodged a breathing tube. COUNT 14 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT AT ORIGINAL TRIAL, NOW GUILTY AFTER RETRIAL
Child L, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said the nurse poisoned the twin baby boy with insulin. COUNT 15 GUILTY.
Child M, allegation of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby injected air into the bloodstream of Child L’s twin brother. COUNT 16 GUILTY.
Child N, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby inflicted trauma in the baby boy’s throat and also injected him with air in the bloodstream. COUNT 17 GUILTY, COUNT 18 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT, COUNT 19 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child O, allegation of murder. Prosecutors say Letby attacked the triplet boy by injecting him with air, overfeeding him with milk and inflicting trauma to his liver with “severe force”. COUNT 20 GUILTY.
Child P, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said the nurse targeted the triplet brother of Child O by overfeeding him with milk, injecting air and dislodging his breathing tube. COUNT 21 GUILTY.
Child Q, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby injected the baby boy with liquid, and possibly air, down his feeding tube. COUNT 22 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
