Lucy Letby: 7 key details from trial of alleged baby killer nurse that emerged on Wednesday

Nurse Lucy Letby is on trial accused of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of 10 others.

Letby, 32, of Arran Avenue, Hereford, denies murdering five boys and two girls, and attempting to murder another five boys and five girls between June 2015 and June 2016.

At the time, she worked in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester.

Letby’s trial continued for a third day at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday, with the prosecution going through further details of the children allegedly targeted by the nurse.

Here are the key developments regarding the alleged victims from Wednesday.

Child H

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC, told jurors that Letby twice attempted to murder Child H – who 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 with the use of adrenaline, the court heard.

The baby girl showed “dramatic improvement” when transferred to another hospital.

No clear cause for either incident was identified at the time.

Child I

Mr Johnson said the alleged murder of Child I was an “extreme example even by the standards of this overall case”.

He said: “This is a case where we allege Lucy Letby tried four times to kill her. (Child I) was resilient but ultimately at the fourth attempt Lucy Letby succeeded and killed her.”

It is alleged Letby injected air into Child I’s stomach through a nasogastric tube – the first incident said to have been just days after attempting to murder Child H.

Child I collapsed and required chest compressions in the early hours of 23 October 2015 but was successfully resuscitated and recovered to the extent she was showing signs of hunger, the court heard.

Less than a hour later the child’s monitor alarm in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital sounded.

Mr Johnson said a colleague of the defendant responded and found Letby standing by the child’s incubator.

The nurse wanted to intervene as Child I was “distressed”, the court heard, but Letby said “they would be able to sort it”.

Child I then collapsed and died after attempts to revive her, led by a registrar, were unsuccessful.

The prosecutor said an expert paediatrician who reviewed Child I’s case had concluded the youngster’s deteriorations were consistent with the deliberate administration of a large amount of air into her stomach via a nasogastric tube.

Child J

Child J was born prematurely at 32 weeks and two days gestation, on 31 October, 2015, at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

She had an operation for a bowel disorder but days later her medical notes showed she was doing well and was healthy.

But she suffered an unexplained collapse overnight on 26/27 November when Letby was one of the six nurses working the night shift.

At 7.20am Letby gave the baby a glucose infusion, then minutes later Child J collapsed again with a seizure and had to be resuscitated, with the help of a doctor, but he could not explain why it had happened again.

An independent medical expert who reviewed Child J’s case said it was “of concern and consistent with some form of obstruction of her airways, such as smothering”.

Child K

A concerned doctor walked in on nurse Letby as she allegedly attempted to kill a newborn baby girl, the court heard.

Dr Ravi Jayaram, a paediatric consultant, had helped deliver the baby – identified only as child K – who was born at 25 weeks on 17 February 2016 at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Mr Johnson said: “As he walked into room one, he saw Letby standing over child K’s incubator.

“She did not have her hands inside the incubator, but Dr Jayaram could see from the monitor on the wall that child K’s oxygen saturation level was falling dangerously low, to somewhere in the 80s.

“But the alarm was not sounding as it should have been and Lucy Letby had not called for help, despite child K’s oxygen levels falling.”

Child N

The prosecutor said child N’s clinical condition was described as “excellent” although he did have mild haemophilia, a blood disorder.

The baby boy was almost ready to go home, except for treatment for jaundice, when Letby came in on for her day shift and went to his room to say ‘hello’, the court was told.

When a second nurse had her back turned Letby told her the baby had lost oxygen and immediately assisted with his breathing, the court heard.

Independent medical experts suggested the blood in child N’s mouth was as a result of the “thrusting” of a tube into the back of his throat to inflict injury, the court heard.

The child later recovered.

Child L and M

The prosecutor claimed Letby attempted to murder child L and child M, twin boys, in similar circumstances to two other twin boys, child E and child F.

Mr Johnson said: “We suggest these cases (children E, F, L and M) are similar in that one of each pair suffered an insulin overdose whereas it is suggested the other suffered an air embolism.

“What are the chances of that happening innocently? We suggest coincidences like that simply do not happen innocently.”

Facebook searches

The prosecution also alleged that Letby, accused of the attempted murder of Child J, made searches on Facebook for the child’s parents, the following month on 17 December 2015.

She is also accused of unusual behaviour regarding the death of Child I.

Interviewed by police after the child's, the defendant was asked about a sympathy card she had sent to Child I’s parents.

Mr Johnson said: “She said for a nurse to send a card was not normal and it was the only time she had done it, but it was not often the nurses got to know a family as well.”

Letby accepted she kept an image of the card on her phone, he said.

She also could not recall taking an interest in Child I’s parents on Facebook in the early hours of October 5 – a day off duty – and also making successive searches on the parents of other youngsters involved in the case.

The trial continues.