Who is baby serial killer Lucy Letby?

Early 1 greeting successful July 2018, Lucy Letby was led distant from her location successful handcuffs aft being arrested for the archetypal time.

The neonatal nurse, 28 astatine the time, was to beryllium questioned astir genuinely unthinkable crimes that, upon conviction, would marque her the UK's astir prolific kid serial slayer successful modern times.

Her apprehension followed a painstaking two-year probe by Cheshire Police that, astatine its height, progressive astir 70 officers and civilian staff.

The sole absorption of Operation Hummingbird was to analyse the alarming and unexplained emergence successful deaths and near-fatal collapses of premature babies successful the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit.

Within hours, quality of Letby's apprehension was making headlines astir the world.

She was initially released connected constabulary bail but was subsequently arrested doubly much and past yet charged successful November 2020.

Since October, the present 33-year-old has been connected proceedings astatine Manchester Crown Court, accused of murdering 7 babies and attempting to execution 10 others betwixt June 2015 and June 2016.

She steadfastly denied each of the 22 charges against her but was recovered blameworthy of 7 counts of execution and 7 of attempted murder, involving six babies.

Letby was acquitted connected 2 counts of attempted execution portion jurors were incapable to scope verdicts connected six different attempted execution charges, involving 4 babies.

The assemblage of 7 women and 4 men had deliberated for much than 110 hours aft proceeding 9 months of harrowing evidence.

But what person we learned astir the pistillate who murdered and attempted to termination babies she was trusted to attraction for?

Letby was calved connected 4 January 1990 and grew up successful Hereford with her parent and father, John and Susan, who since October person watched their daughter's proceedings unfold from the nationalist gallery.

She attended a section schoolhouse and sixth-form college, selecting subjects she believed would assistance her execute her goals and aspirations.

"I person ever wanted to enactment with children," she told the jury, adding she had chosen A-levels "which would champion enactment that career".

This is simply a distressing lawsuit truthful if you, oregon idiosyncratic you know, request assistance aft speechmaking astir it, the details of organisations offering assistance tin beryllium recovered connected the BBC Action Line website.

Letby, who was the archetypal idiosyncratic successful her household to spell to university, studied nursing for 3 years astatine the University of Chester.

During her studies, she completed galore enactment placements. The bulk were based astatine the Countess of Chester Hospital, either connected the children's ward oregon the neonatal unit.

She qualified arsenic a Band 5 caregiver successful September 2011 and went connected to commencement moving full-time astatine the infirmary from January 2012 earlier qualifying to enactment with intensive attraction babies successful the outpouring of 2015.

Letby told the tribunal her workload from that clip was "predominately" spent looking aft the sickest babies connected the unit.

She besides revealed however she mentored 5 oregon six pupil nurses and estimated that she had cared for hundreds of new-born babies during 2015 and 2016.

In September 2016, Letby was officially informed successful a missive from the Royal College of Nursing that she was nether probe implicit the deaths of babies.

Earlier that year, she had been removed from objective duties and fixed a clerical relation successful the hazard and diligent information bureau by infirmary management.

At the time, she believed this was to cheque unit were competent to bash their jobs and hoped to instrumentality to the occupation she loved.

But six years aboriginal Letby - who had nary erstwhile convictions, reprimands oregon cautions recorded against her - recovered herself sitting successful the dock down a solid surface arsenic the prosecution labelled her a "calculating and devious" opportunist who "gaslighted" colleagues to screen her "murderous assaults".

Her defence squad argued the deaths and collapses were owed to "serial failures successful care" successful the portion and she was the unfortunate of a "system that wanted to apportion blasted erstwhile it failed".

During the trial, jurors were fixed a glimpse into Letby's beingness extracurricular of work, with her once-private WhatsApp and societal media messages work to the court.

"I had rather an progressive societal life," she told the jury.

"I utilized to regularly be salsa class, spell retired with friends, spell connected holidays with friends. Gym."

She started to outcry arsenic pictures of her location - wherever she was archetypal arrested - were shown to the jury.

Letby lived successful unit accommodation astatine Ash House earlier moving to a level successful Chester for astir six months.

She moved backmost into Ash House successful June 2015 earlier moving into the location she bought connected Westbourne Road, Chester, successful April 2016.

A photograph of a noticeboard successful the room was covered successful pictures and letters and featured a poster, drawn by her godson, which read: "No.1 Godmother awarded to Lucy Letby".

On her bed, she had Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore cuddly toys portion a drawer successful the surviving country contained assorted documents and aesculapian notes for her 2 cats, named Tigger and Smudge.

Letby has been remanded successful custody since November 2020 and has spent clip successful 4 antithetic prisons.

Her proceedings has gripped readers from astir the world, galore incapable to fathom however a neonatal caregiver could transportation retired specified heinous acts.