Mother fears Lucy Letby tried to harm her baby in act of revenge for complaint she made when killer nurse told her ‘not to get her hopes up’
- Lynsey Artell gave birth to her son in March 2016, during Letby’s killing spree
- She said Letby made an ‘inappropriate’ comment while discussing his health
- The mother now fears Letby was responsible for nearly killing her son in revenge
A mother has said she fears Lucy Letby spiked her baby’s insulin levels in revenge for a complaint she made after the killer nurse told her ‘not to get her hopes up’.
Lynsey Artell gave birth to her son Asa in March 2016, during nurse Letby’s killing spree in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, where she was also a nurse.
Letby today became the most prolific baby killer in modern British history after a jury found her guilty of murdering seven premature babies and trying to take the lives of six more between June 2015 and June 2016.
She said that Letby made an ‘inappropriate’ comment as she was discussing the health of her premature baby, who was not a victim in the court case, telling the mother ‘we never know what could happen at this stage’.
The next day Ms Artell returned to the hospital to find doctors giving her son urgent treatment after he had a huge spike in his insulin levels. She now fears that Letby was responsible for nearly killing her son, who was ‘half an hour way from death’, in an act of revenge.
Children’s nurse Lucy Letby (pictured in a custody photo) today became the most prolific baby killer in modern British history
She was guilty of murdering seven premature babies and trying to take the lives of six more between June 2015 and June 2016
Ms Artell told Sky News that she was having a conversation with her husband about how their son was getting on when Letby, who had overheard the conversation, came over.
Ms Artell said that, while Letby was not actually Asa’s nurse and was covering another person on break, she interrupted their conversation.
The killer nurse told them: ‘I don’t like parents getting their hopes up because we never know what could happen at this stage.’
Ms Artell said: ‘As a parent I absolutely erupted and was like furious. I was like “how dare you take that hope away from me”.
‘And then as a professional, I’m saying to the matron and to herself that it was competely inappropriate. You can’t speak to people like that.’
The next day she returned to her room after going to grab a coffee and was told that her three-day old baby had a huge spike in his insulin levels and was receiving urgent treatment.
She was told that, as an insulin diabetic herself, that could be the reason behind her child’s sudden collapse.
But she said she now has doubts over whether this was the case. ‘He was starved of oxygen and he was three days old. How would he have insulin levels so high when I’m not passing him anything?’
Letby – wearing a blue hoodie with the strings covered in pink glitter – is taken from her house in handcuffs after being arrested by Cheshire Police in July 2018
Letby steps into the police car – telling officers to be careful because she had just had knee surgery
‘I know that the blood gases that were done on Asa, he wasn’t getting anything from the placenta from me and hadn’t been for a long time.
‘I stopped taking insulin on the day he was born and three days later he’s got a level of someone who’s just taken insulin.
‘How has that happened?’
The trial heard that Letby used insulin as one of her attack methods.
Police investigated the incident ‘a couple of times’ but ‘couldn’t find any evidence of malpractice’.
Ms Artell said that she would like the case to be looked into again by police.
She is now ‘extremely suspicious’ that Letby may have tried to harm her son in revenge for complaining about her comments the day before.
She said that she thought the killer nurse seemed ‘odd’ and a ‘bit of a loner’. She was ‘adamant’ not to let Letby care for her son after the incident’.
She added that if police had gone through all the evidence and found that there was nothing to suggest foul play then that would ‘make my world’.
‘But if it hadn’t then it needs to be brought to justice.’
Ms Artell thinks that there are still a lot of people like her whose children may have also been harmed by Letby and while today’s verdict ‘is great’ for the families invovled, ‘it does not bring anyone back’.
Letby being quizzed in July 2018 by an officer about the rise in deaths on her watch. Letby replies: ‘They told me there had been a lot more deaths and I’d been linked as someone who had been there for a lot of them.’ Asked if she was concerned about the rise in mortality, Letby says – meekly – ‘yes’
Letby appeared ‘animated and excited’ after each murder, offering to bathe, dress and take photographs of her victims’ bodies
Ms Artell said she also feels ‘guilty’ that she may have ‘driven her on’ to attack her son ‘out of anger’.
‘It’s horrific to think of because you wouldn’t think that anybody would be capable of that.’
Seven years on after the incident, Asa is now happy and healthy, but Ms Artell admitted that she feels a sense of ‘survivor’s guilt’ because of this.
‘You feel almost ashamed to say how you feel because they’re alive.
‘We were lucky and we should be lucky because they’re alive. And I know that. But it still affects you.’
Police are now reviewing the care of 4,000 babies Letby may have come into contact with during a spell at the Countess of Chester Hospital from January 2012 to the end of June 2016 and two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital in 2012 and 2015.
Cheshire Police emphasised that only those cases highlighted as medically concerning would be investigated further and said the review at Liverpool Women’s Hospital does not involve any deaths.
Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, the senior investigating officer in the case, said: ‘This does not mean we are investigating all 4,000,’
He admitted he could not say how many other active cases there are but added: ‘There are cases where we’ve told parents.’
Police Family Liaison Officer Janet Moore (right) reads out a family statement outside Manchester Crown Court today. Also pictured is Pascale Jones from the CPS and DCI Nicola Evans
Members of the Cheshire Police investigation team embrace following this afternoon’s verdicts – which came after a ten-month trial
Letby’s parents, Susan and John, arrive at Manchester Crown Court on August 18
In a statement responding to the verdict earlier today, medical director at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Dr Nigel Scawn, said: ‘I speak for the whole Trust when I say how deeply saddened and appalled we are at Lucy Letby’s crimes.
‘We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital and our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or died. We cannot begin to understand what they have been through.
This case has had a profound impact on our patients and our local community and also our staff – who come to work every day determined to provide safe and high-quality care for our patients.
‘Our staff are devastated by what happened and we are committed to ensuring lessons continue to be learnt.
‘We are grateful for the cooperation of our staff, especially those who have maintained the utmost professionalism whilst giving evidence in the trial, sometimes on multiple occasions.
‘We will continue to support them and other staff to ensure they receive the care and support they need.
‘We would like to extend our thanks to Cheshire Police for their extensive investigation and the work they did to bring this case to trial.
‘We’d also like to thank them for the comprehensive support they have provided to all of the families.
‘Since Lucy Letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services. I want to provide reassurance that every patient who accesses our services can have confidence in the care they will receive.
‘And, most importantly, our thoughts are with all the families and loved ones at this very difficult time.’
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