Parents of Letby’s victims suspected deliberate harm before police investigation

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Parents of babies attacked by nurse Lucy Letby have told a court they knew their children had been deliberately harmed before the police investigation was launched.

Letby murdered seven babies and attempted to kill six others while working in the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit between 2015 and 2016.

Police were only called in to investigate in 2017.

At Letby’s sentencing hearing on Monday, the mother of Child D told the court she was “knocking on doors” and “asking questions” after the baby girl died in June 2015 .

She said: “We got a solicitor and I wanted the police involved. At that stage I was told this was not a criminal matter so the police was out of the question.”

She said that a week before an inquest was due to be held, police called her to tell her someone was about to be arrested for the murder of Child D and others.

She added: “Thank God the police started their investigation.”

The mother of Child I told the court her husband was “convinced someone had done this” following the baby girl’s death in October 2015.

She said: “I would tell him ‘don’t be stupid, who would deliberately hurt our tiny daughter, it’s the grief that makes you think that’, but there was never a real explanation to why she died.”

She said she remembered her “whole body shaking” when officers told the couple they were arresting someone on suspicion of murder.

She said: “We were both absolutely broken that someone could do something so evil to our precious little girl and this has had a massive effect on our family even until this day.

“We dug for years trying to get answers for what had happened and over the years we have been in some very dark places mentally.”

The mother of Child N, who survived after Letby tried to kill him, said she always knew her son had been deliberately harmed.

She said that she felt “happy and relieved” when the police got in contact to say they were investigating Letby because “we felt like we were being listened to”.

“Finally we would receive some answers,” she said.

She added: “We just questioned why a healthy baby boy was fine one minute and bleeding from the mouth and needing CPR the next.”

Consultants at the hospital have said executives were reluctant to call in police despite concerns being raised.