PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The bacterium is at the centre of an ongoing scandal at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where it was found to be connected to the deaths of several patients, including 10-year-old Milly Main. It can be especially dangerous to immunocompromised patients and premature babies. Baby 1 was both. Mark McDonald, Letby’s defence barrister, said: “There were serious problems on the neonatal unit, it was a unit in crisis. “Lucy raised in her evidence an issue of infections and sewage overflow, so it is not surprising that Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was detected at the time.”
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies, and attempting to murder another seven, at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016. She was convicted of murdering Baby I by injecting air into her bloodstream. Prosecutors accused her of trying to kill the infant multiple times before succeeding in her final attempt. But concerns have arisen over the safety of her convictions, with leading medics questioning the evidence used against her during the trial. An international panel of top medical experts, working for free with Letby’s defence, has reviewed the evidence in the case of each baby, and found no evidence of deliberate harm."
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PASSAGE THREE OF THE DAY: "Nursing notes taken once Baby I had been transferred back to the Countess of Chester, after her stay at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, show nurses repeatedly inquiring about the appropriate measures to take in response to the bug."
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STORY: "Letby victim had deadly bug in lung at time of death," by Freelance Journalist Cleuci de Oliveira (Brazil) , published by The Telegraph, on January 31, 2026.
SUB-HEADING: "Bacteria found in Baby I ‘not surprising’ as nurse complained about sewage overflow at hospital."
GIST: "A post-mortem detected a deadly bug in the lung of whom Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering.
During Letby’s trial, prosecutor Nick Johnson KC told the jury that “Baby I” tested negative for a battery of viruses. But jurors did not hear that the coroner had picked up the bacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.
Letby’s defence barrister said it was “not surprising” that the bacteria was found, as the nurse had raised issues of “sewage overflow” on the ward in her evidence.
A tissue sample collected from Baby I’s right bronchus, three days after her death, came back positive for the bacteria, according to test results that The Telegraph reviewed.
The post-mortem report does not mention the positive test result.
The bacterium is at the centre of an ongoing scandal at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where it was found to be connected to the deaths of several patients, including 10-year-old Milly Main.
It can be especially dangerous to immunocompromised patients and premature babies. Baby I was both.
Mark McDonald, Letby’s defence barrister, said: “There were serious problems on the neonatal unit, it was a unit in crisis.
“Lucy raised in her evidence an issue of infections and sewage overflow, so it is not surprising that Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was detected at the time.”
Baby I’s post-mortem report concluded that cultured bacteria were a result of spreading or contamination in the post-mortem examination, but it is unclear if the positive test for Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was included as part of the assessment.
The World Health Organisation recognised Stenotrophomonas maltophilia as one of the most important multi-drug-resistant pathogens to emerge recently in hospitals.
The death rate can be as high as 37.5 per cent among vulnerable patients, such as the immunocompromised and pre-term babies.
Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies, and attempting to murder another seven, at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.
She was convicted of murdering Baby I by injecting air into her bloodstream. Prosecutors accused her of trying to kill the infant multiple times before succeeding in her final attempt.
But concerns have arisen over the safety of her convictions, with leading medics questioning the evidence used against her during the trial.
An international panel of top medical experts, working for free with Letby’s defence, has reviewed the evidence in the case of each baby, and found no evidence of deliberate harm.
In the case of Baby I, the panel concluded that Stenotrophomonas maltophilia had colonised her respiratory system – which was already compromised – causing thick, creamy secretions that blocked her airways and exacerbated her breathing problems.
Dr Shoo Lee, who led the expert panel, said: “We conclude, therefore, that [Baby I] died of respiratory complications caused by respiratory distress syndrome and chronic lung disease, that were complicated by the Stenotrophomonas maltophilia colonisation.”
He said that doctors had failed to respond to surveillance warnings about the bug and “did not recognise the diagnosis, and did not treat her with the appropriate antibiotics”.
‘Likely a preventable death’
Routine testing had detected the deadly bug in Baby I when she was still alive, but “it did not trigger any alert or thought process among the medical staff that it could be pathogenic”, according to the panel’s report, which The Telegraph obtained.
“This was likely a preventable death,” Dr Lee added.
At Letby’s trial, Dr Sandie Bohin, a prosecution witness, admitted she “never heard of” Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, which was first detected in the baby six weeks before her death.
The bacterium was found in swab tests taken from Baby I’s throat and rectum after her health deteriorated and she was briefly transferred to Liverpool Women’s Hospital for more specialised care. The hospital also found Enterobacter cloacae and Staphylococcus aureus, most commonly known as staph, during her stay.
Dr Lucy Beebe, another prosecution witness, also admitted to not knowing anything about Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, despite having noted, during a medical examination, that Baby I had been colonised with it.
Hospital records also show that Liverpool Women’s Hospital, and infection control specialists at the Countess of Chester, provided incorrect information about Stenotrophomonas maltophilia to the nurses caring for Baby I.
Nursing notes taken once Baby I had been transferred back to the Countess of Chester, after her stay at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, show nurses repeatedly inquiring about the appropriate measures to take in response to the bug.
Both Liverpool Women’s Hospital and infection control told the nurses that Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was not multi-resistant to antibiotics, and that no special measures were necessary.
Lawyers for Baby I’s family have pushed back against the international expert panel’s findings, telling a public inquiry there was no evidence that the baby’s Stenotrophomonas maltophilia colonisation ever developed into an infection.
A report by Dr Mike Hall, a defence expert who was never called to the stand, also said that although Baby I had been “colonised” by the bacterium, she had not been “infected”."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/31/lucy-letby-victim-deadly-bug-lung-time-of-death/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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