21 August 2023 , 12:20
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A manager who had been in charge of nursing at Lucy Letby's hospital has been suspended as the killer nurse was imprisoned for life for murdering seven babies and trying to kill six more.
Alison Kelly was in charge of nursing at the Countess of Chester Hospital when Letby murdered and seriously injured babies in her care. The senior manager had been working as nursing director at The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust in Salford.
A statement from Nicky Clarke, chief people officer at Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, said: "I can confirm Alison Kelly has been suspended. We are unable to comment any further at this moment in time." Ms Kelly, the then director of nursing and deputy chief executive, is amongst the managers of Countess of Chester Hospital who have come under fire, after colleagues of Letby tried to raise concerns about her.
Alison Kelly was a senior manager at Countess of Chester HospitalThe Telegraph reported that local politicians in the area were deeply concerned to learn she was still in a position of senior management. The outlet added that it was in July 2015, when Ms Kelly was first told that Letby was the only nurse on shift when three babies had died within two weeks of one another.
Letby would go on to murder four more babies, the first just a month after lead consultant Dr Stephen Brearey lodged a report with Ms Kelly. She was reportedly contacted again in February 2016 by Dr Brearey who found common links in nine deaths stretching back to mid-2015.
Lucy Letby guilty of murdering 7 babies as Angel of Death faces life sentence
The moment Letby was arrested at her home (Cheshire Police)Letby, 33, was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others between June 2015 and June 2016.
She will spend the rest of her life in prison after being handed a whole life order at Manchester Crown Court on Monday.
Lucy Letby Timeline:
- June 8, 2015 - she commits her first murder, killing Baby A
- June 10 - just two days later she tries to kill Baby B
- June 14 - she kills for the second time, taking the life of Baby C
- June 22 - less than two weeks since her first murder, Letby kills Baby D
- August 4 - Letby kills Baby E and tries to kill Baby F
- July 2 - Dr Stephen Brearey carries out a review into the three deaths in June and tells Alison Kelly that Letby was the only nurse on shift for all three
- September - Letby makes two attempts to kill Baby G and later in the month messages colleagues to claim the unit is "completely unsafe"
- October 23 - Letby kills Baby I and Dr Brearey, concerned Letby is harming babies, contacts the unit manager
- February 8, 2016 - Dr Ravi Jayaram, another consultant, warns he saw Letby standing and watching as a baby seemed to have stopped breathing and contacts Ms Kelly and Ian Harvey to request an urgent meeting
- April 9 - Letby tries to kill Baby L and Baby M
- June 2016 - Letby attempts to murder Baby N and then murders Baby O
- June 24 - The killer nurse takes the life of Baby P and Dr Brearey phones the duty executive on call, Karen Rees, to say he and consultant colleagues don't want Letby to work her next shift, the plea is rejected.
- June 29 - Letby is removed from front-line duties
Mr Justice Goss told the 33-year-old there was “premeditation, calculation and cunning in your actions” as he handed down a whole-life order at Manchester Crown Court on Monday.
Addressing the nurse, who refused to appear in court, he said: “You acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies and in gross breach of the trust that all citizens place in those who work in the medical and caring professions. The babies you harmed were born prematurely and some were at risk of not surviving but in each case you deliberately harmed them, intending to kill them.”
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The judge told her she would be provided copies of his remarks and the personal statements of the families of her victims. Earlier, the families of Letby’s victims addressed an empty dock as they told her “you are nothing” and “you are evil”.
More than a dozen relatives of Letby’s victims sat in the public gallery for the hearing on Monday and eight jurors returned to see the sentencing. The mother of Child E, a premature-born boy who died, and Child F, his twin brother who survived, told the court the nurse’s refusal to appear was “just one final act of wickedness from a coward”.
Letby has become only the fourth woman in UK history to be told she will never be released from prison. These include the girlfriend of Moors murderer Ian Brady, Myra Hindley, who died in 2002, and serial killers Rose West and Joanna Dennehy.