Letby inquiry: Baby cared for by nurse ‘wrapped in dirty towel’

The mother of another girl, Baby H, who was allegedly targeted twice by Letby in September 2015, said she “struggled” with a message that Letby passed to her at the Countess of Chester.

The infant required resuscitation after her oxygen deteriorated twice.

Jurors at Letby’s trial found her not guilty of attempted murder over the first incident and could not reach a verdict on the second incident.

Baby H’s mother told the inquiry Letby handed her a red box as her daughter was placed in an ambulance for transfer to another hospital on 27 September.

“It had a teddy bear on the top and inside the box was a cot card and her wristband from the Countess of Chester,” she said.

It also contained a bag with a label reading “For my Mummy and Daddy xxx” containing the hat Baby H had worn when she was receiving breathing support, the inquiry heard.

“To me it almost seemed a bit like a memory box. I remember thinking that it was quite morbid. You know, because she was not dead,” her mother said.

Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.

The inquiry is expected to sit until early next year, with findings published by late autumn 2025.