The story of the British nurse turned into one of the worst serial killers could be more shocking than thought. Lucy Letby, 33, was found guilty last Friday of the murder of seven babies and of having tried with another six in a hospital in Chester (north-west England) between 2015 and 2016.

This Monday she has been sentenced to life imprisonment, but an exclusive from the British newspaper The Guardian ensures that the number of children affected could be higher.

The events have shocked the UK as it is the most prolific child murder case in the country’s history. The woman, who was already suspected of the crimes since 2018 -when she was arrested for the first time-, was arrested again in 2020 and charged by the Police after receiving authorization from the Crown Prosecutor’s Office, who presented 22 charges against her.

Letby worked as a trainee student at the public center for three years, before finishing her studies at the local university and specializing as a children’s nurse. Since then, she has worked in the neonatal unit, specializing in babies who require different levels of care.

Each year, this unit cares for about 400 children, but since the end of July 2016 it stopped admitting children born before 32 weeks of gestation, since which time no more deaths have been recorded.

What was he accused of?

During the trial, the evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office indicated that Letby killed the children, five boys and two girls, injecting them with air with a syringe intravenously while working at the Countess of Chester health center.

The aforementioned court also found her guilty of the attempted murder of six other babies with methods that included, in addition to air injection, insulin poisoning or the administration of excessive amounts of food.

Instead, the jury, which deliberated for more than 110 hours, found Letby not guilty of two attempted murders, while failing to reach a verdict on six other attempted murders.

The charges for which she has been convicted correspond to the period between June 2015 and June 2016, when there were several deaths from unexplained causes.

A report published in 2017 by the Royal Medical College of Paediatrics and Child Health concluded that there was “no cause” to explain the increase in deaths in the unit registered as of 2014.

What sentence have you received?

Judge James Goss, of the Manchester Crown Court, has confirmed this Monday the sentence of the nurse, of whom he said “there was premeditation, calculation and cunning” in his actions, after mentioning each of the charges against him.

In a message addressed directly to her, the magistrate said: “She is now 33 years old…. I have to determine if the severity of the offenses is high enough that I do not need to do a minimum period. They are crimes of a very exceptional gravity.”

“This was a cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder involving the youngest and most vulnerable children,” he added. “There was a deep malevolence that bordered on sadism.. you have no regrets… there are no mitigating factors,” he continued.

“I sentence you to prison for life. I order that the early release provisions be waived. An order of life imprisonment for each crime and you will spend the rest of your life in prison, “the judge concluded when announcing the sentence. British media point out that Letby has become the third living woman sentenced to life imprisonment.

Are there more cases that have not been tried?

According to The Guardian newspaper, through police sources close to the investigation, “suspicious” cases are still being investigated both at the Chester hospital and at another in Liverpool where the nurse worked.

The exclusive of the British media affirms that the Police believe that Letby could have harmed dozens of more babies. A source with knowledge of the investigation said detectives had identified about 30 babies who were involved in incidents. Letby was on duty at each of these unexplained collapses.

It has been the Cheshire Police itself that has asked experts to examine the medical records of more than 4,000 babies born at Liverpool Women’s Hospital and the Countess of Chester between 2012 and 2015. The same sources have informed The Guardian that the 17 babies who have appeared in the trial were “phase one” of the ongoing police investigation.