Police have released footage of the moment concerns about the death rate at the Countess of Chester Hospital were put to Lucy Letby.
The experienced nurse was trusted by her colleagues on the Countess of Chester Hospital's neo-natal unit, but for reasons police believe may never be known she was in the midst of a year long killing spree.
The 33-year-old has now been found guilty of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others between June 2015 and June 2016, after a nine month trial at Manchester Crown Court. The serial killer targeted premature and sick newborns by injecting them with air, poisoning them with insulin, force-feeding them excess milk and even physically assaulting them.
READ MORE: Moment Lucy Letby arrested over baby murders caught in police bodycam footage
She was finally stopped after senior consultants at the hospital met to discuss the troubling number of inexplicable collapses and deaths on the unit, and she was put on desk duty away from patients.
After reviewing the unusual cases in question, hospital staff eventually came to the horrifying realisation there was evidence of foul play. Cheshire Police were invited to launch their own investigation in 2017, which opened the years-long Operation Hummingbird probe.
Letby was first arrested on July 3, 2018, and her house on Westbourne Road, Chester, was raided by police. She was interviewed later that day.
In footage shared by the Operation Hummingbird team, Letby is asked about her colleagues telling her there had been concerns over a rise in death rates on the neo-natal unit.
Letby responded: "They told me there had been a lot more deaths and I’d been linked as someone who had been there for a lot of them. The detective asked: "Did you have any concerns that there was a rise in mortality rate?"
Letby says: "Yes". The detective asks: "Okay, so tell me about that – what concerns did you have?"
Letby said: "I think we’d all just noticed as a team in general, the nursing staff, that this was a rise compared to previous years."
The nine-month-long trial heard some of her attacks inflicted immense pain and distress on her little victims, who although vulnerable were mostly stable and fully expected to be sent home to their parents.
Nick Johnson, KC, prosecuting, had told the jury that in many cases “cold, calculated, cruel and relentless” Letby trawled through the Facebook profiles of her victims’ parents to revel in the devastation she had caused.
Following the verdict, Deputy Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans, said: "Today is not a time for celebration. There are no winners in this case.
“Our focus right now is very much on the families of the babies. The compassion and strength shown by the parents – and wider family members – has been overwhelming.
“Today is all about them – and we must not lose sight of that. I cannot begin to imagine how the families in this case feel today. We will all take some time to reflect on today's verdict both the guilty and the not guilty verdicts.
“I would like to say thank you to the families for putting their trust in us and I hope that this process has provided them with some of the answers they have been waiting for. We will continue to work closely with each of the families in the days and weeks ahead in order to ensure they have the support they all require in light of everything they have experienced.
“My thoughts – and those of the whole prosecution team – remain with them at this incredibly difficult time."