The deaths of the two children are still being investigated – Letby inquest

Police are continuing to investigate the deaths of two children linked to the hospital where child serial killer Lucy Letby worked, as a public inquiry examines her crimes.

A document prepared by the legal team of the Thirlwall Inquiry said there were 13 deaths in the Countess of Chester’s neonatal unit between 2015 and 2016, while four died after being transferred to neonatal units at other hospitals.

While all 17 deaths have been investigated by Cheshire Constabulary, the public inquiry revealed that two of them – either at the Countess of Chester or elsewhere following the transfer – “remain the subject of ongoing police investigation”.

Cheshire Constabulary declined to comment.

Last month, it emerged that Letby, now 35, was interrogated under caution The deaths and non-fatal collapses at both the Countess of Chester and Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where the neonatal nurse trained as a student, were being investigated by prison detectives.

Police are reviewing the care of 4,000 babies admitted to the hospital from the time Letby began employment in January 2012 to the end of June 2016.

The review covers two work placements undertaken by Letby in Liverpool in 2012 and 2015.

The police had earlier stressed that only medically relevant cases would be investigated further.

Letby was ultimately convicted of the murder of seven infants and the attempted murder of seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.

While one of the victims of his attempted murder, Child K, died a few days after Letby intentionally dislocated her windpipe, prosecutors said it ultimately did not cause her death.

The other nine children who died in 2015 and 2016 – and were not involved in Letby’s criminal trials – are included in the overview document produced by the Thirlwall Inquiry’s legal team.

The details listed in the document include either the cause of death that was recorded in the post-mortem, or the registered cause of death.

Many of them cited congenital conditions.

Following Letby’s conviction, police said that some of the 17 deaths – 10 in 2015 and seven in the first half of 2016 – are no longer under investigation because a natural or biological cause has been identified.

The inquest heard that three babies died at the Countess of Chester’s neonatal unit in 2012.

Two died during the following year while 2014 saw three deaths.

Letby, of Hereford, is serving 15 life sentences after pleading guilty to seven counts of murder and eight counts of attempted murder at Manchester Crown Court. He made two attempts to kill a child.

The public inquiry, chaired by Lady Justice Thirlwall, is hearing the final week of evidence in Liverpool Town Hall.

Their findings are expected to be published in the autumn.