Killer nurse Lucy Letby was accused of ‘lying’ and changing her account of events because she had been ‘caught cold’ trying to murder a premature baby.
The 34-year-old allegedly dislodged the breathing tube of a 15-week early girl, less than two hours after she was born at the Countess of Chester Hospital in February 2016.
The prosecution claim Letby was caught ‘virtually red-handed’ by senior paediatrician Dr Ravi Jayaram ‘doing nothing’ as the child’s oxygen levels dropped dangerously low.
Yesterday, in her second day in the witness box at Manchester Crown Court, Nick Johnson KC claimed Letby had ‘hedged her bets’ in police interviews.
He said that, when she was questioned by detectives in 2018, 2019 and 2020, she had accepted the account of Dr Jayaram, who claimed he saw her alone in the intensive care nursery with the child, known as Baby K, at 3.50am during a night shift.
Killer nurse Lucy Letby was accused of ‘lying’ and changing her account of events because she had been ‘caught cold’ trying to murder a premature baby
The prosecution claim Letby was caught ‘virtually red-handed’ by senior paediatrician Dr Ravi Jayaram ‘doing nothing’ as the child’s oxygen levels dropped dangerously low
Body worn camera footage issued by Cheshire Constabulary during the arrest of Lucy Letby
Mr Johnson stated that in the witness box she had changed her account and decided she could not recall the incident, or whether she was in the room, to avoid ‘difficult’ questions.
He said: ‘You were agreeing [with detectives] that you were there at 3.50am.’
Letby replied: ‘No, I was looking at possible options. I was reliant on what Dr Jayaram was saying and I was trying to fill in the gaps.’
Mr Johnson asked Letby about her claim that she may have been ‘doing nothing’ because she was waiting for Baby K, who weighed just 1lb 8oz, to ‘self-correct’ and get her oxygen levels back up by herself.
The jury had heard from an expert witness, nursing consultant Elizabeth Morgan, who said it would not be normal practice to do this with such a premature infant.
Ms Morgan said this was because a baby born at just 25 weeks had immature lungs and there was a risk of the child dislodging the tube accidentally.
But Letby insisted it was ‘policy’ at the Countess for nurses to wait and see if a baby helped themselves, regardless of how premature they were.
Mr Johnson told her: ‘You’re lying because you know you were caught cold by Dr Jayaram.’
Letby replied: ‘No.’
It is the prosecution case that Letby, after trying to kill Baby K, tampered with her breathing tube twice more to cover her tracks and make it appear that the tube was ‘habitually’ being dislodged.
Mr Johnson told Letby: ‘You dislodged the tube’.
‘No,’ she replied.
He then went on: ‘You silenced the alarms and you intended to kill her.’
Letby insisted: ‘No, I did not.’
The former nurse was convicted last August of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six more, but a verdict on the allegation over Baby K could not be reached and a retrial was then ordered.
She maintains she never killed or harmed any infants in her care.
Baby K was transferred to a specialist hospital around 11 hours after she was born because of her extreme prematurity and died there three days later.
The prosecution does not allege Letby, formerly of Hereford, caused her death. She denies one count of attempted murder.
The case continues.