Mum lied to about son's Letby death probe - inquiry

Lucy Letby was first arrested at her home in Chester in 2018

The mother of one of the babies murdered by Lucy Letby at the Countess of Chester Hospital has told a public inquiry she was lied to by a medical director.

She said her son - referred to as Baby C - was born seven weeks premature and had been doing well until one night he suffered a cardiac arrest and could not be resuscitated.

Letby, 34, who was a nurse on the unit, had been seen standing by his monitor as the alarm sounded, even though she had not been his designated nurse. She was convicted in June 2023 of injecting air into his stomach.

The details of an investigation into her son's death did not reveal that suspicions had been raised surrounding Letby, the Thirwall Inquiry heard.

'Kept in the dark'

The mother of Baby C said the trust's then medical director, Ian Harvey, told her at a meeting in February 2017 a post-mortem examination had found nothing untoward about her baby's death and that he could not have been saved.

Mr Harvey had already been warned that a member of staff could be involved and Letby's name had been mentioned.

But in the meeting, Mr Harvey told Baby C's mother staffing levels and statistics were being examined and failed to mention anything about suspicions surrounding the nurse.

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The mother of Baby C, who was born weighing 800g (1lb 12oz), told the inquiry: "I think we were being kept in the dark about what had happened to our child.

"We were being given no information whatsoever and finding things out by accident.

"It is very hard to explain what this has done to our family. It was devastating.

"Losing our child changed our perspectives on life. Our grief will be life-long."

She said she had been horrified when she eventually found out and that she had been lied to.

Lady Justice Thirlwall is chairing the inquiry

A review of the neonatal unit was carried out by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in September 2016.

Two reports were later produced - one was marked confidential and included references to Letby, the other version did not.

At a later date, Baby C's mother was given the non-confidential report and was led to believe it was the full document but she told the inquiry it was "woeful, information was missing".

She said: "I felt they didn't want to show us anything - especially because any answers they may have found might have hurt the trust in some way."

She said she had lost all faith in the hospital and had felt like she was "banging my head against a brick wall".

"There was a report, somewhere, into my dead son and they wouldn't let me have it. They wouldn't be transparent and open with me," she said.

Baby C's mother said she had not been handed the full report until eight years after her son's death.

She told the inquiry she had known nothing about the suspicions until she received a phone call from the police to informing her they had made an arrest.

"To not inform us until someone is arrested was unforgiveable," she said.

"There had been layer upon layer of investigation and to get a phone call out of the blue that someone was being arrested was an absolute shock."

Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven others between June 2015 and June 2016

Kate Blackwell KC, in her opening statement on behalf of the former hospital managers, including Mr Harvey, said the senior managers "have reflected on their time" at the hospital and would "continue to reflect on their actions and decisions as the inquiry unfolds".

"As to the contact between some senior mangers and some parents, it is accepted with regret that this was inadequate both in terms of frequency and manner and that this has caused hurt and anxieties to those affected," she said.

"For this, the senior managers are deeply sorry."

Mr Harvey and the other former senior managers at the Countess of Chester Hospital will be giving their evidence to the inquiry at a future date.

Letby, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life prison terms after she was convicted in August 2023 of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.