Killer nurse Lucy Letby may have killed three more babies and put many more in harm’s way, a paediatrician at her trial has claimed.
Dr Dewi Evans, who gave expert evidence against the neo-natal nurse, has scoured over the medical notes and believes that more babies could have been victim to evil Letby’s killing spree.
He said three babies that died had illnesses but said “we need to look at them to see if they were placed in harm’s way as well”, reports The Mail.
And he claims a further ten surviving children could have been harmed by Letby – and all were likely to have had their breathing tubes tampered with.
He said: “Initially, I looked at 32 cases and there are seven of those [which were not part of the trial] that need more scrutiny.
“These babies had illnesses that were life-threatening and three of them died – but we need to look at them to see if they were placed in harm’s way as well.
“They were poorly so it may be impossible to show beyond reasonable doubt whether they were the victim of inflicted harm.
“But there are seven cases that concern me which we need to look at more thoroughly. I will be liaising with Cheshire Police to bring those cases to their attention.”
Serial killer Letby, 33, was convicted last month of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six more at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neo-natal unit and given a whole life term.
Express.co.uk understands the Court of Appeal has just received Letby’s appeal application and it could take up to five months before the case goes before a judge.
She injected children with air, overfed them milk and assaulted them and was jailed for life.
Dr Evans said that following Letby’s arrest in July 2018, he was asked to review the notes of another 48 babies that were not included in the trial.
He found concerns with as many as 18 of those babies.
He said he found “several cases” where an endotracheal tube – placed in a baby’s throat when they need breathing support – had been displaced.
He added the tubes can come out accidentally – but it would be unusual for so many to have been dislodged.
He said: “I suspect these tubes were displaced intentionally.
“Of the 18, there could be up to ten babies who were placed in harm’s way. As far as I know they survived without suffering any long-term harm.”
Dr Evans was the prosecution’s main expert and gave evidence on 17 separate occasions over the ten-month trial.
He added: “I think the modus operandi evolved over time and I think that prior to air embolus tube displacement was probably something that she did.”
Prosecutors are also expected to announce later this month whether they intend to seek a retrial for Letby on a number of outstanding allegations.
