Three ex-bosses of Lucy Letby arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter

Three former senior staff at the hospital where nurse Lucy Letby murdered seven babies and attempted to kill seven others have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

They worked on the senior leadership team at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016 and were bailed after being questioned on Monday.

The arrests came after an investigation into potential corporate manslaughter at the hospital was opened in 2023, and then widened in March this year to include gross negligence manslaughter.

Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole life prison sentences after targeting babies at the hospital's neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.

She was convicted of making two attempts to kill one of the babies.

Cheshire Police said the arrests "did not impact on the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple offences of murder and attempted murder".

Det Supt Paul Hughes said the corporate manslaughter element of the investigation focused on the senior leadership of the hospital and its decision-making, "to determine whether any criminality has taken place concerning the response to the increased levels of fatalities".

He said gross negligence manslaughter was a separate offence and "focuses on the grossly negligent action or inaction of individuals".

Corporate manslaughter can carry an unlimited fine for an organisation but no jail sentence for any individual, whereas gross negligence manslaughter can result in a life sentence for a person convicted of it.

The three people arrested have not been named by police, in line with normal police procedure.

Cheshire Police said it was also carrying out a separate investigation into deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies in Chester and in the Liverpool Women's Hospital, where Letby trained for periods, going back to 2012.

Det Supt Hughes said there were "no set timescales" for the manslaughter investigations.

Letby has maintained her innocence and her barrister, Mark McDonald, submitted an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) earlier this year.

The application included the findings of 14 medical experts who agreed to re-examine the evidence heard at trial and concluded Letby had not harmed any babies.

The CCRC, which has the power to refer cases back to the Court of Appeal, said it was reviewing the application and could give no timescale on when a decision would be reached.

Mr McDonald said the news of the arrests had come at a "very sensitive" time in his client's case.

"Despite this the concerns many have raised will not go away, and we will continue to publicly discuss them," he said.

He added that "internationally renowned experts" had concluded that no babies were murdered and called for a new public inquiry into "failings" in neonatal and paediatric care at the Countess of Chester.

Last month former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt called for an "urgent re-examination" of Letby's case due to what he called "serious and credible" questions raised by the expert panel.

His Conservative Party colleague, Sir David Davis, has also been supportive of attempts to have Letby's case looked at again.

But lawyers for the families of Letby's victims described the expert panel's conclusions as "full of analytical holes" and "a rehash" of the defence case.

A public inquiry into the circumstances around Letby's offending is also due to publish its findings in early 2026.

The Thirwall Inquiry heard evidence from the senior leadership team at the hospital about when concerns were raised about a rise in the deaths of babies on the neonatal unit.

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