Lucy Letby was working on the unit where baby Alvin died
By Matthew Richards & Catriona Aitken
BBC News
A mum whose one-month-old baby died on the unit where Lucy Letby worked has said she is “sickened” by a photo of the nurse with her son.
Emily Morris from Deeside, Flintshire, said she was preparing to leave the Countess of Chester Hospital when her son Alvin died in 2013.
She said Letby’s “weird” behaviour was proven by a newly revealed image.
She is calling for the death to be reinvestigated and police said inquiries were taking place.
Ms Morris, 35, and Alvin’s stepdad Mark Lewis, 39, only saw the picture for the first time on Thursday.
It had been stored on a disc included in a memory box and they did not have a laptop on which they could download the images.
“It shocked us. It’s really hard, to see a person who has done that to those babies next to you. It makes you sick,” said Ms Morris.
“You can see she is grabbing his blanket. I have told everybody that she did that and now there’s proof. That’s proof that she was with him.”
Image source, Family photo
Baby Alvin died in 2013 after being cared for on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester hospital
Alvin was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and cared for on the neonatal unit following his birth.
Ms Morris said she was first concerned about Letby’s behaviour when she attended her son’s christening at the hospital.
“She wanted to touch him and change the bedding and constantly wanted to lean over him,” she said.
“And you just think, ‘that’s weird for a nurse’. But all the other nurses were absolutely fine with him.
“At the christening, when my family was leaning over the pram to make a fuss of him, she was constantly keeping her eyes on my family.”
She was given a whole-life sentence, meaning she will spend the rest of her life in prison.
The UK government’s Department of Health and Social Care has ordered an independent inquiry to look at the wider circumstances surrounding what happened, including the handling of clinicians’ concerns.
Letby wrote a message in Alvin’s christening book, which read: “To Alvin, with love on your special day.”
Ms Morris said: “It was heartbreaking, seeing her name in the book, because of all the things we read in the news saying the kids that got targeted were the ones she wrote to.
“So I think in my heart Alvin might have been targeted.”
Image source, family photo
Lucy Letby signed baby Alvin’s christening book
Ms Morris said police investigating Lucy Letby told her in 2018 that they had not found any suspicious circumstances in Alvin’s case, but called on them to re-examine the evidence.
“I would feel sick to my stomach knowing that she hurt my boy, because he was the happiest baby in the world, giggling and laughing, loving life,” she said.
“So I would really hate it if she had actually hurt my son.”
Mr Lewis added he welcomed the news that the independent inquiry into the Letby case would have powers to compel witnesses to give evidence.
He said “every single case that was involved with Lucy Letby” should be considered.
“Families need answers,” he said.
Alvin’s mum and stepdad want his death to be reinvestigated by police following Lucy Letby’s convictions
Det Supt Paul Hughes of Cheshire Police said the force was “committed to a complete and thorough investigation into the full period of time that Lucy Letby was employed as a nurse”.
“This investigation remains ongoing, through a transparent and open-minded process,” he said.
“The families of all babies, who are part of this investigation, have been informed and are supported. We will of course provide a more detailed update when we can.”
