Lucy Letby tried to kill a ‘resilient’ baby girl four times before succeeding, it was claimed today – as a court heard how babies ‘suddenly recovered’ when removed from the hospital where she worked.
The 32-year-old allegedly killed five boys and two girls and faces a total of 22 charges of both murder and attempted murder involving 17 babies. The offenses are said to have taken place between June 2015 and June 2016 while she was working in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
This morning, Letby sat in the dock wearing a black jacket as she listened to the prosecution, who opened today’s hearing by presenting one count of murder against child I and two counts of attempted murder against child H.
Johnson described the case of Child I – who despite being born weighing just 970g (2lbs 2oz) was healthy – as “an extreme example even by the standards of this overall case”. Letby tried four times to kill the infant before succeeding on the fourth attempt, Mr Johnson said, describing the baby girl as ‘resilient’.
Prosecutors told jurors at Manchester Crown Court that Letby twice tried to murder Child H – who, like the other babies, cannot be identified for legal reasons – on two successive night shifts in September 2015.
Child H suffered two ‘profound’ collapses which required resuscitation by chest compressions using adrenaline, the court heard. No clear cause for either incident was identified at the time, but the baby survived.
After the two incidents, the girl was transferred to another hospital where she showed ‘dramatic improvement’. She later returned to the Countess of Chester and was eventually discharged.
Johnson said: “It is a remarkable fact in the case of (Child H) and others, that as soon as children were removed from the sphere of influence of the Countess of Chester and Lucy Letby, it was often followed by their sudden and remarkable recovery.’
Letby’s parents, Susan and John, are supporting her in her six-month trial at Manchester Crown Court.
As the third day of Letby’s trial begins, Manchester Crown Court has heard about the trial so far:
Letby, 32, denies murdering seven premature babies and attempting to murder 10 more over 12 months. The deaths took place at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. Letby was arrested three years after the death of her first alleged victim, Baby A;
ICU nurses are said to have injected babies with insulin, air or pumped milk to kill them – often during night shifts when parents were less likely to be there;
Babies A, C and D were all murdered over the course of about 13 days, it is alleged;
The jury was told Letby was standing next to Baby C’s cot when his monitor alarm went off and she told the colleague who rushed in: ‘He’s going, he’s going’. Baby A was murdered in the same room six earlier, the prosecution claims;
The day after allegedly murdering Baby E, Lucy Letby allegedly used insulin for the first time to poison a baby, the court heard, by attempting to murder Baby E’s twin brother, Baby F;
Letby allegedly targeted twins on more than one occasion – and in some cases, one was murdered and their sibling survived;
She is said to have searched for the families of her alleged victims on Facebook and social media, including on Christmas Day;
In some cases, Letby is alleged to have tried to kill Baby G on up to three occasions, including twice in one shift;
Child H suffered two ‘profound’ collapses which required resuscitation by chest compressions using adrenaline;
Letby tried four times to kill Child I before succeeding on the fourth attempt, Mr Johnson said, describing the baby girl as ‘resilient’;
Letby denies seven charges of murder and ten charges of attempted murder between 2015 and 2016 at Countess of Chester Hospital
The nurse (pictured) allegedly tried to kill a baby by injecting insulin into his feeding bag less than 24 hours after murdering his twin brother
The court heard Letby (pictured) tried to kill a baby at the Countess of Chester Hospital three times in the space of a month
Letby’s parents Susan and John Letby arrive at Manchester Crown Court this morning
Nick Johnson, KC opened today’s hearing by outlining Letby’s first alleged attempt to kill Child H when she was the infant’s designated nurse.
Johnson said the ICU chart shows she gave Child H a dose of morphine at 01.25 and salt water at 02.50.
The following night, the infant’s oxygen levels began to drop precipitously at 22.53 and 03.30 after being ‘relatively stable’ during the day shift.
Letby was not her designated nurse at the time, but the nurse who held that role later said she could not remember whether she had taken a break during the shift, but confirmed that she had been out of the room at least somewhat of the time.
He went on to describe ‘interesting Facebook searches’ by Letby after the incidents.
He told the court that about a week after Child H’s second collapse, at about 1.15am, within about three minutes she searched for Child H’s mother, the father of twin children E and F and the mother of Child I.
At the time, she was on her day off.
Introducing the case of Baby I, Mr Johnson said: ‘There were four separate occasions on which we allege Lucy Letby tried to kill Baby I.
‘She was resistant but in the end, on the fourth attempt, Lucy Letby managed to kill her’.
Baby I weighed 970 grams when she was born at Liverpool Women’s Hospital on 7 August 2015. She was transferred to the Countess of Chester on 18 August.
On September 29, the infant was eight weeks old and the clinical concerns about her had subsided.
She had no breathing problems, was ‘on air’, gained weight and was fed both by bottle and tube.
Johnson claimed that Letby carried out her first attack on Baby I the following day, September 30 – ‘a couple of days after she had tried to kill Baby H and a week or so after events two and three for Baby G.
Letby was on a 12-hour shift starting at 8, and she was Baby I’s designated nurse.
She had two other babies to look after in room 3, but despite this she was also involved in that shift with G and H.
She fed the sleeping baby with 35 ml expressed breast milk via NGT at Half an hour later, an emergency call was made.
Baby I was vomiting, desaturated, her heart rate had dropped and she was struggling to breathe. Her airway had to be cleared and she was given respiratory support before being moved to Room 1.
X-rays revealed a huge amount of gas in her stomach and intestines, and her lungs appeared to be ‘squeezed’ and of small volume. It was the prosecution’s case that this air had been injected into the baby’s stomach.
The crisis passed, but medical records show Letby adjusted the infant’s glucose infusion and gave her an injection of saline.
‘Within moments, Baby I, deteriorated again. But as I have said, Baby I was resilient and overnight her condition’.
After that, the baby enjoyed a period of such stability that she didn’t even need a screen.
Letby outlined in the dock at Manchester Crown Court with certainty as she was charged with the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of a further ten
During the time Letby worked on the night shift there was an increase in the number of babies dying or becoming seriously ill, Manchester Crown Court was told, and when she moved to the day shift there were more ‘unexplained collapses and deaths’ .
Letby is accused of attacking two sets of twins – with insulin and with air – one child, Baby E, would die, but his sibling survived
The prosecution alleges that a single common factor in the babies’ deaths and collapse was Letby’s presence