Lucy Letby ‘tried to kill ‘resilient’ baby girl four times before succeeding’
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Lucy Letby tried to kill a ‘resilient’ girl four times before she succeeded, it was alleged today – when a court heard babies ‘sudden recovery’ when they were removed from the hospital where she worked.
The 32-year-old is said to have murdered five boys and two girls and is on trial for a total of 22 charges for both murder and attempted murder involving 17 babies. The crimes allegedly took place between June 2015 and June 2016 while she was working in the neonatal unit at Countess of Chester Hospital.
This morning, Letby sat in the dock in a black coat as she listened to the prosecutor opening today’s hearing on charges of murder against Child I and two of attempted murder of Child H.
Mr Johnson described the case of Child I – who was healthy despite being born at just 970 grams – as “an extreme example, even by the standards of this general case.” Letby tried to kill the child four times before succeeding on the fourth attempt, said Mr Johnson, who described the girl as “resilient.”
The prosecutor told Manchester Crown Court jurors that in September 2015, Letby twice attempted to murder child H – who, like the other babies, cannot be identified for legal reasons – on two consecutive night shifts.
Child H suffered two ‘deep’ collapse requiring CPR through 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 fired.
Johnson said: “It is a remarkable fact in the case of (Child H) and others that once children were removed from the Countess of Chester and Lucy Letby’s sphere of influence, it was often followed by their sudden and remarkable recovery.”
Letby’s parents, Susan and John, support her during her six-month trial at Manchester Crown Court.
As the third day of Letby’s trial begins, Manchester Crown Court has heard the trial so far:
- Letby, 32, denies killing seven premature babies and planning to kill ten more in 12 months. The deaths occurred 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 nurse would have injected babies with insulin, air or milk to kill them – often on night shifts when parents were less frequent;
- Babies A, C and D were all killed in the span of about 13 days, it is alleged;
- The jury was told that Letby was standing next to Baby C’s bed when his alarm went off on the monitor and she told the colleague who rushed in: ‘He’s going, he’s going’. Baby A was killed in the same room six times before, prosecutors say;
- The day after Baby E’s alleged murder, Lucy Letby is said to have first used insulin to poison a baby, the court heard, by attempting to kill Baby E’s twin brother, Baby F;
- Letby is said to have targeted twins more than once – 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 said to have attempted to kill Baby G up to three times, including twice on one shift;
- Child H had two ‘deep’ collapses requiring CPR through chest compressions using adrenaline;
- Letby tried to kill Child I four times before succeeding on the fourth attempt, said Mr Johnson, who described the girl as “resilient”;
Letby denies seven counts of murder and ten charges of attempted murder between 2015 and 2016 at Countess of Chester Hospital
The nurse (pictured) reportedly tried to kill a baby by injecting insulin into his feeding bag less than 24 hours after killing his twin brother.
Court heard that Letby (pictured) attempted to kill a baby three times within a month at Countess of Chester Hospital
Letby’s parents Susan and John Letby arrive at Manchester Crown Court this morning
Nick Johnson, KC opened today’s hearing detailing Letby’s first alleged attempt to murder child H when she was the child’s designated nurse.
Johnson said the ICU card shows she gave Child H a dose of morphine at 1:25 a.m. and saline at 2:50 a.m.
The following night, the child’s oxygen levels began to drop sharply at 10:53 PM and 3:30 AM after being “relatively stable” during the day shift.
Letby was not her designated nurse at the time, but the nurse who later had this role said she couldn’t remember if she had taken a break during the shift, but confirmed that she was in the room at least part of the time. had been out.
He went on to describe Letby’s “interesting Facebook searches” after the incidents.
He told the court that about a week after Child H’s second collapse, at about 1:15 a.m., she searched within about three minutes 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.
Mr Johnson introduced Baby I’s case, saying: ‘There were four separate occasions where we allege that Lucy Letby tried to kill Baby I.
“She was resilient, but finally, 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 August 7, 2015. She was transferred to the Countess of Chester on August 18.
On September 29, the child was eight weeks old and clinical concerns about her had subsided.
She had no breathing problems, was ‘in the air’, gained weight and was given both vials and a tube.
Johnson claimed that Letby carried out her first attack on Baby I the following day, September 30 — “a few days after she attempted to kill Baby H and a week or so after events two and three before Baby G.”
Letby was on a 12-hour shift starting at 8 a.m., and she was Baby I’s designated nurse.
She had two other babies to care for in room 3, but despite that, she was also involved in that shift with G and H.
She fed the sleeping baby 35 ml of expressed breast milk through the NGT at 4 pm. An emergency call was made half an hour later.
Baby I was vomiting, unsatisfied, 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 “squashed” and of small volume. It was the prosecution that this air was injected into the baby’s stomach.
The crisis passed, but medical records show that Letby adjusted the baby’s glucose infusion and gave her a saline injection.
“In a few moments, dear, I was backing off again. But like I said, honey, I was resilient and her condition overnight.”
After that, the baby enjoyed a period of such stability that she didn’t even need a monitor.
Letby outlined in the Manchester Crown Court dock with security when she was charged with the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of a further ten.
During the time Letby worked the night shift there was an increase in babies dying or becoming seriously ill, Manchester Crown Court was told, and when she went on the day shift there were more ‘unexplained collapses and deaths’
Letby is accused of assaulting two twins – with insulin and with air – one child, Baby E, was said to die, but his sibling survived
Prosecutor alleges a single common factor in the babies’ deaths and collapses was Letby’s presence