Lucy Letby ‘tried to kill ‘resilient’ baby girl four times before succeeding’

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 they were 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 offences are said to have taken place between June 2015 and June 2016 while she was working in the neo-natal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital. 

This morning, Letby sat in the dock wearing a black jacket as she listened to the prosecution open today’s hearing by laying out an allegation of murder against Child I and two of attempted murder against Child H. 

Mr 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’. 

The prosecutor told jurors at Manchester Crown Court that Letby twice attempted 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 with the use of adrenaline, the court heard. No clear cause for either incident was identified at the time but the baby survived. 

After the two incidents the baby girl was transferred to another hospital where she showed ‘dramatic improvement’. She later returned to the Countess of Chester and was eventually discharged.

Mr Johnson said: ‘It is a notable fact in the case of (Child H) and others that as soon as children were removed from the Countess of Chester and the sphere of influence of Lucy Letby, it was often followed by their sudden and remarkable recovery.’

Letby’s parents, Susan and John, are supporting her at her six-month trial at Manchester Crown Court. 

As the third day of Letby’s trial begins, Manchester Crown Court has heard over the trial so far:   

• Letby, 32, denies murdering seven premature babies and attempting to murder 10 more over 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 is alleged to have injected babies with insulin, air or pumped with milk to kill them – often during night shifts when parents were less likely to be there;
• Babies A, C and D were all murdered in the space of around 13 days, it is alleged; 
• The jury was told that Letby was stood next to the cot of Baby C 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, 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 trying 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 families 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 two times in one shift;
• Child H suffered two ‘profound’ collapses which required resuscitation by chest compressions with the use of adrenaline;
• Letby tried four times to kill Child I before succeeding on the fourth attempt, Mr Johnson said, describing the baby girl as ‘resilient’;

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. 

Mr Johnson said the ICU chart shows she gave Child H a dose of morphine at 1.25am and saline at 2.50am. The following night, Child H’s oxygen levels began to drop profoundly at 22.53pm and 3.30am after being ‘relatively stable’ during the day shift.

Letby was not her designated nurse at the time, but the nurse who had this role later said she could not recall whether she had taken a break during the shift but confirmed she had been out of the room at least some 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 resilient, but ultimately, at the fourth attempt, Lucy Letby succeeded in killing her’.

Baby I weighed 970 grams when she was born in Liverpool Women’s Hospital on August 7, 2015. She was transferred to the Countess of Chester on August 18.

By September 29, the infant was eight weeks old and the clinical concerns about her had diminished. She had no breathing problems, was ‘in air’, gaining weight and being fed both by bottles and through her NGT.

Mr Johnson alleged 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 that began at 8am, and she was Baby I’s designated nurse. She had two other babies to look after in Room 3, yet despite this she was also involved that shift with G and H.

She fed the sleeping baby 35mls of expressed breast milk via the NGT at 4pm. Half an hour later an emergency ‘crash call’ was put out.

Baby I had vomited, desaturated, her heart rate had dropped and she was struggling to breath. Her airway had to be cleared and she was given breathing support before being moved to Room 1.

X-rays revealed a massive amount of gas in her stomach and bowel, and her lungs appeared ‘squashed’ and of small volume. It was the prosecution case that this air had been injected into the baby’s stomach.

The crisis passed, but medical notes record that Letby adjusted the infant’s glucose infusion and gave her an injection of saline.

‘Within moments, Baby I deteriorated again. However, as I have said, Baby I was resilient and overnight her condition’.

Thereafter the baby enjoyed a period of such stability that she did not even need a monitor.