Hereford Nurse appears in court charged with murder of eight babies at Cheshire hospital
30-year-old Lucy Letby is also charged with ten counts of attempted murder.
Last updated 12th Nov 2020
A nurse from Hereford has appeared in court charged with eight counts of murder following an investigation into baby deaths at a hospital in Cheshire.
Lucy Letby was re-arrested on Tuesday, as part of the investigation into the Countess of Chester Hospital, which began in 2017.
The 30-year-old, from Arran Avenue, also faces 10 charges of attempted murder relating to the period of June 2015 to June 2016.
She was sat behind a desk, next to her solicitor, Richard Thomas, and spoke in a strong, clear voice only to confirm her name, date of birth and her home address in Hereford.
District Judge Nicholas Sanders imposed an order restricting the reporting of the names of the surviving babies subject to the attempted murder charge.
It took just over two-and-a-half minutes for him to read out all the charges but no pleas were entered, and Letby was remanded into custody to appear at Chester Crown Court at 2.15pm on Friday.
Cheshire Police said the parents of all the babies involved had been kept fully updated on developments and were being supported by officers.
A spokesperson for the force said:
"The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised Cheshire Police to charge a healthcare professional with murder in connection with an ongoing investigation into a number of baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital.''
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