The parents of twin boys who “evil” nurse Lucy Letby tried to murder have criticised hospital bosses for not acting sooner, saying they could have stopped more babies being attacked.
Their boys were targeted by Letby in the Countess of Chester Hospital after she was moved from night shifts.
She was only working that day because of staffing issues at the neonatal unit.
Baby L was poisoned with insulin and, as his blood sugar levels dropped dangerously, his twin brother Baby M came close to death after air was injected into his bloodstream, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Both boys survived and are now described by their parents as “normal boisterous” children – but Baby M suffered some brain damage and his mother and father worry every day it might impact him in the future.
Letby has been found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six other infants following her trial, which lasted almost a year.
Her victims have been granted anonymity for life.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘They could have stopped it’
As Letby was found guilty of attempting to murder the twins, known as babies L and M, their parents said she should be handed a whole life sentence and never be freed.
“She took everything,” the twins’ mother said. “Our joy… happiness.”
Her husband added: “She means nothing. Just an evil person. There’s no way she should have been able to get away with it for so long.”
He said the couple feel “very let down” by the hospital, whose bosses should have done more to get Letby off the unit – and he believes more of her victims would have survived had they acted on suspicions earlier.
“They could have stopped it,” he said.
“They could have done it a lot earlier. And they need to be held accountable as well.
“Obviously, I know they didn’t know there was a poisoner at work. And it’s difficult to prove that.
“But the doctors did speak up. The doctors spoke up in 2015.”
He added: “If they’d acted upon the initial suspicions, then they definitely could have stopped any more babies being attacked.
“It would have prevented multiple deaths really. It didn’t have to be that many.”
‘Horrendous’ scene
The parents, who along with their children are not being identified, said they were “so happy” and “over the moon” when they first found out they were having twins but “a little bit nervous” when they learned they would be born prematurely.
Letby was at the birth of the “two healthy boys” and the parents said they were “ecstatic” to be first-time parents.
But they realised something was wrong with Child M when another nurse came “charging” into the mother’s room.
She said: “The nurse came and said: ‘You need to come downstairs.’ I was very sore. And I thought: ‘That morning I was giggling with my kids and they were very happy in their cots, then suddenly this happened?'”
Her husband said: “I was the first one into the unit at the time and the image that I saw was just horrendous. That image I’ll never forget because it’s on the brain.”
He told how doctors were pumping his child’s heart “like a rag doll”, adding: “I was just full of tears. I just didn’t know what to think. We’re first-time parents, we didn’t know what was going on.”
His wife said: “He was just crying, crying and I said: ‘Oh my God, what happened?'”
She said one of the other nurses looked “very worried and panicked” and told them: “I have not done anything. I’ve not done anything.”
Letby was standing “very calm and cool” behind her, she said.
The mother added: “I was just praying to God, [saying] ‘what happened to my child? I have not done anything wrong in my life to anybody, so why do I have to suffer?’ And then after 30 minutes, then he recovered.
“She [Letby] was [a] very cool, calm, calculated and criminal-minded lady, but we didn’t notice anything at the time.”
‘My legs were shaking’
Recalling the moment she brought the boys home, the woman said the family were “very happy” and “we didn’t know or suspect anything”.
She said they did not know that anything had happened at all to Baby L until police knocked on their door some two years later.
“My legs were so shaking, I sat down on the floor and just cried,” she said. “They told us about Baby L.
“We broke down. We knew about Baby M, but when I read about Baby L, there were tears in my eyes.”
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
The couple heard in court that Letby got the chance to poison Baby L with insulin after Letby’s colleague left the room.
The twins’ mother said Letby became “more aggressive” and “changed totally” after “she was unsuccessful in killing my babies”.
She said she got a headache listening to Letby give evidence at her nine-month trial, where the nurse denied harming the boys.
“I feel very sick of her,” the boys’ mother said.
“Just because I have to listen to her lie, lie, lie! I say now enough. Don’t tell lies please.”
‘It’s been hell’
The boys’ father said he is now a “changed person” and suffers sleepless nights, depression and flashbacks.
“It’s been hell to be honest,” he said.
“It’s hard to put into words just… how it could have gone on so long? Why it went on so long…
“Those are the answers we need. But that’s a different part of the investigation.
“We have to wait for the hospital to answer those questions, but it could have been stopped.”
His wife said: “Why did they wait until 2016? As soon as two or three babies died, why wait until 17 babies? I blame the hospital as well.”
Despite their criticisms of the hospital, the twins’ father said a consultant paediatrician, who the court heard raised concerns, was his “hero”.
“He saved our son and without his expertise and professionalism I don’t know where I would be today,” he said.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
His wife added tearfully: “I love my kids too much. I love my boys. Even when they fight… even when they’re arguing or fighting. They are my life. They are my support.
“When we heard… that Lucy… harmed our kids… we broke down… previously, we were very happy.
“We tried to say to them that Lucy has tried to harm you. But they don’t understand. They make a joke: ‘Mummy we will kick her, we will bite her, we will pull her hair mummy.’ They don’t understand yet.”
Sky News has contacted the Countess of Chester Hospital for comment.
