Lucy Letby became Britain’s most prolific child serial killer in modern history when she was found guilty of murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital in August 2023.

Handed a whole-life sentence, Letby, who denied all charges against her, will never walk free from prison. Yet 25 years earlier, the nation was horrified by another nurse,  known as the Angel of Death, following the killings of four babies under her supervision.

Beverley Allitt was in her early twenties when she started her chilling murder spree at a Lincolnshire hospital in 1991. Allitt, employed at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, was additionally convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm upon six other children.

She was found guilty two years afterwards, receiving 13 life sentences and ordered to serve a minimum of 30 years in custody. Allitt has subsequently been moved to Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire, reports the Mirror.

The Thirlwall Inquiry, examining whether lessons were learned from Letby’s crimes by hospital management, has uncovered a troubling connection between the two women whose offences occurred two decades apart.

During her opening statement at the Thirlwall Inquiry, Rachel Langdale KC made reference to the Clothier Inquiry, which was conducted in the aftermath of Allitt’s offences.

She said: “Nevertheless, and distressingly, 25 years later another nurse working in another hospital killed and harmed babies in her care.”

Ms Langdale revealed the Thirlwall Inquiry would hear evidence from a senior lecturer in the child nursing programme at the University of Chester, where Letby qualified in 2011, who confirmed the Allitt case formed part of student training and education.

Barrister Sir Robert Francis KC has been charged with examining how the NHS responded to Allitt’s killing spree, alongside that of GP Harold Shipman.

Solicitor Tamlin Bolton, representing families of six Letby victims, said: “He has been asked to look back at things like [Harold] Shipman, Beverley Allitt, the ­Mid-Staffs inquiry and consider the recommendations that followed.

“What the recommendations were, how they were meant to be ­implemented, whether they were implemented, and how they have assisted or changed NHS practice.

“The families will hopefully be asked for submissions and what they would like to see recommended to prevent this happening in the future.”

Sir Robert led a five-year investigation into as many as 1,200 deaths caused by substandard care and severe staffing shortages at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust in 2010. This established a “duty of candour” within the health service that remains in force today.

However, Ms Bolton said the relatives of Letby’s victims want Lady Thirlwall’s inquiry to act as a “strong reminder” of that duty.

She said: “A lot of the families I represent didn’t know their children had suffered collapses, they didn’t know the hospital had an increased death rate on that neonatal unit. They knew briefly there were investigations taking place but they didn’t really know why.”

Letby, 34, is currently serving 15 whole life terms for murdering the vulnerable infants and attempting to kill seven others during a 12-month period from 2015 at the Countess of Chester Hospital where she was employed as a neonatal nurse.

Ms Langdale stated: “For ordinary, decent, right-thinking people, the actions of Letby will remain unfathomable. We will not be inviting speculation from witnesses about her motive or mindset.’In Lady Justice Thirlwall’s opening statement the senior Court of Appeal judge said: “.

In Lady Justice Thirlwall’s opening statement the senior Court of Appeal judge said: “At the heart of this inquiry are babies who died or were injured and their parents. I do not presume to describe the feelings or emotions that those parents have already experienced but I will remind you of what happened since the birth of their children.

“First, each parent celebrated the birth of each child, then when things seemed to be going well for those babies each one of them collapsed suddenly and unexpectedly. Some of the babies recovered, some survived but with life-long consequences, some died.

“Death and injury occurred in 2015 and 2016, the parents were told that natural causes were the reason for their deaths and life long difficulties, and so each parent grieved the loss of a new life and all that it promised and lived with that profound sorrow.”