Lucy Letby: Nurse hovered over baby night before her death, jury told

A parent whose babe was allegedly murdered by Lucy Letby has described seeing the caregiver "hovering" implicit her girl the evening earlier she died.

It is alleged that Ms Letby injected aerial into the bloodstream of the baby, known lone arsenic Child D, astatine the Countess of Chester Hospital successful June 2015.

She has been charged with murdering 7 babies and attempting to execution 10 others astatine the infirmary betwixt 2015 and 2016.

Ms Letby, 32, denies 22 charges.

The prosecution allege Child D was the 3rd kid murdered by the caregiver successful a two-week period, with different babe suffering a life-threatening illness during that time.

Child D's parent recalled seeing Ms Letby, primitively from Hereford, successful the neonatal portion hours earlier her daughter's death.

She told Manchester Crown Court: "I was pushed successful (to the neonatal unit), she was benignant of hovering astir (my baby) but not doing much.

"She had a clipboard to instrumentality notes and she benignant of was looking astatine a machine, but I didn't recognize what she was doing.

"I asked if everything was OK and she said 'yes, she's fine'.

"I would person expected her to permission america but she conscionable stuck astir and was benignant of conscionable watching, looking implicit us.

"I wanted to archer her to spell away, to springiness america immoderate privacy."

The baby's parent earlier told the tribunal however she had been waiting for much than 50 hours for attraction aft her waters had breached early.

The assemblage heard the parent was initially sent distant from the infirmary but returned 24 hours aboriginal due to the fact that she "didn't consciousness right".

"The babe didn't look to determination arsenic well," she said. "I was acrophobic for corruption due to the fact that I hadn't been fixed immoderate antibiotics."

While the pistillate was assessed by midwives, she said she had to hold different 24 hours.

"I felt precise disquieted and scared, I felt unwell and not successful control. I felt I was being forgotten by the staff," she said.

After 50 hours, doctors took the determination to present Child D via a Caesarean section.

Recalling the infinitesimal her girl was shown to her successful the transportation room, she said: "She seemed precise lifeless, she didn't scream, determination was nary sound, everything was quiescent successful the room."

After being moved to a ward, the parent was fixed the accidental to clasp her girl for the archetypal time.

"I had her, tegument to skin, she didn't truly person immoderate movement, she was rather limp, she didn't person a bully colour and she seemed to conflict to breathe.

"I tried to bosom provender but she was wholly limp, truthful yes I was rather worried.

"I was told by a doc that I didn't request to worry, she was OK, her information was owed to being delivered done C-section.

"I didn't judge what helium said, I was not happy. It was careless, blasé," she said.

Child D initially responded good to treatment, but aboriginal deteriorated and collapsed 3 times.

The parent told the tribunal that she was woken successful the aboriginal hours of the greeting by a caregiver "who was successful a panic".

She arrived astatine the intensive attraction portion with Child D's begetter arsenic doctors were desperately trying to resuscitate the infant.

"We were conscionable lasting determination looking arsenic (Child D) was dying, idiosyncratic was holding a telephone to his ear, past a doc told them to stop," she said.

In a statement, Child D's begetter said: "I was ne'er fixed the content that (her) information was life-threatening and it didn't adjacent transverse my caput that she was successful information of dying.

"When she died, we conscionable were not prepared for it."

Jurors astatine Manchester Crown Court were aboriginal shown a bid of substance messages betwixt Ms Letby and colleagues successful the hours aft the Child D's death.

One message, sent by Ms Letby astatine 08:36, said: "We had specified a rubbish night. Our occupation is conscionable acold excessively bittersweet sometimes."

The workfellow replied: "No what happened?"

Ms Letby replied: "We mislaid [Child D]."

The colleague: "What!!!! But she was improving. What happened? Wanna chat? I can't judge you were connected again. You are having specified a pugnacious time."

Ms Letby past referred to Child D being "messed astir a mates of times" and referred to a rash that "looked similar overwhelming sepsis".

She said it had been a "shock", adding "feel a spot numb this time".

In the messages, Ms Letby said her occupation had "so galore positives" but sometimes she wondered "how bash specified sick babies get done and others conscionable dice truthful unexpectedly".

"I deliberation determination is an constituent of destiny involved. There is simply a crushed for everything," she added.

Her workfellow went connected to respond saying: "You spell to bed, you're an fantabulous caregiver Lucy, don't hide it."

A tribunal bid bans the reporting of the identities of the children allegedly attacked by Ms Letby, portion identifying parents oregon witnesses connected with the children is besides not allowed.