Indian-origin doctor helped catch UK nurse who murdered 7 newborns

A UK nurse who was found guilty of murdering seven babies in northern England, had many who previously tried to blow the whistle on her.

Among them was Ravi Jayaram, an Indian-origin doctor who worked at the same hospital as the nurse, Lucy Letby, as reported by local media outlets.

Jayaram, a consultant paediatrician at the Countess of Chester Hospital had noticed Lucy's abnormal behaviour on multiple occasions.

According to local media reports, he found it very concerning when the neonatal nurse didn't take any actions as a baby's oxygen levels kept dropping.

Jayaram wasn't the only one who noticed menacing patterns in her work. He was reported saying how other consultants raised concerns about her too after three babies died in 2015.

With the passing of more babies, meetings were held to discuss the suspicion that surrounded her.

"I do genuinely believe that there are four or five babies who could be going to school now who aren't," the doctor was quoted saying in a local television interview.

It was only in 2017 that the doctors were allowed to meet with a police official and raise their concerns.

"The police, after listening to us for less than 10 minutes, realised that this is something that they had to be involved with. I could have punched the air," Jayaram added, as quoted by the media outlet.

The nurse was found guilty of murdering seven babies between and 2015 and 2016 and attempting to murder another six.

The verdict, following a 10-month trial at Manchester Crown Court, makes Letby one of Britain's most prolific serial child killers. She was found not guilty of two attempted murders while the jury were unable to agree on six other suspected attacks.

Prosecutors told the jury during the trial that Letby poisoned some of her infant victims by injecting them with insulin, while others were injected with air or force fed milk, sometimes involving multiple attacks before they died.

"I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them," said a handwritten note found by police officers who searched her home after she was arrested. "I am a horrible evil person," she wrote. "I AM EVIL I DID THIS".

Letby will be sentenced on Monday and faces a very long prison term, and possibly a rare full life sentence.

With inputs from AFP

ALSO READ:

• Murder of newborn babies: UK government orders independent inquiry

• 'I am evil': Nurse found guilty of murdering 7 newborn babies

• World
• Europe