Trial starts for U.K. nurse who allegedly killed newborns

Prosecutors accused nurse Lucy Letby, 32, of murdering seven infants and attempting to kill ten others as they lay in the neonatal unit. Police said the number of babies with inexplicable, sudden collapses rose whenever Letby was on shift at the Countess of Chester Hospital. She has pleaded not guilty to 22 charges. The trial could last up to six months.

When do police think she did it? Police accuse her of attacking infants, using varied means of hurting them, while she was working. Allegedly, Letby tried to kill the first baby in 2015. Over the next 18 months, there was a significant rise in the number of “catastrophic collapses” in the hospital. Police allege that sometimes doctors would save a baby, but Letby would attack again later. She’s accused of trying to kill one child three times. Police have not given a motive.

Dig deeper: Listen to my report on Doubletake about other babies dying in the neonatal unit.