Lucy Letby trial: Accused nurse wanted to attend baby's funeral

Nurse Lucy Letby wanted to spell to the ceremonial of a babe miss she allegedly murdered, a tribunal has heard.

Ms Letby is accused of sidesplitting the premature baby, referred to arsenic Child I, astatine the 4th effort connected 23 October 2015.

Ms Letby, 33, is alleged to person injected aerial into the infant's tummy via a feeding conduit astatine the Countess of Chester Hospital.

She denies murdering 7 babies and attempting to execution 10 others.

On Tuesday, Manchester Crown Court heard constabulary interrogation summaries successful narration to Child I and a fig of different infants successful the case.

Officers asked Ms Letby astir her recollection of Child I's collapses and consequent decease successful October 2015.

Detectives asked Ms Letby however she coped with the decease of Child I, the 5th babe decease connected the portion successful arsenic galore months.

"It affects everybody connected the portion due to the fact that we each knew [Child I] rather good and we'd got to cognize the family," she said.

"I wanted to spell to [Child I's] funeral. I was unluckily moving astatine the clip truthful didn't go."

Ms Letby was besides asked astir a condolence paper she sent to the household of Child I up of her funeral.

The paper was titled "your loved 1 volition beryllium remembered with galore smiles".

Inside, Ms Letby wrote: "There are nary words to marque this clip immoderate easier.

"It was a existent privilege to attraction for [Child I] and get to cognize you arsenic a household - a household who ever enactment [Child I] archetypal and did everything imaginable for her.

"She volition ever beryllium portion of your lives and we volition ne'er hide her. Thinking of you contiguous and always. Lots of emotion Lucy x."

Ms Letby told constabulary it was the archetypal and lone paper she had sent to the household of a patient.

Asked if this was normal, she said: "No. Well, it's not precise often that we would get to cognize a household arsenic good arsenic we did with [Child I]."

The tribunal heard Ms Letby had a photograph of the paper connected her phone, asked wherefore she had taken a picture, she said she "often takes pictures of immoderate cards that I person sent, adjacent day cards - thing similar that".

Asked wherefore she would privation to retrieve specified a card, she said: "It was upsetting losing [Child I] and I deliberation it was bully to retrieve the benignant words I'd shared with that family."

Ms Letby denied harming Child I and erstwhile asked astir the conclusions of aesculapian experts - that the babe had aerial injected into her tummy - she explained determination were "other reasons wherefore babies tin person aerial successful the stomach", specified arsenic erstwhile they swallow air.

Ms Letby was besides asked astir the illness of a premature babe girl, Child K, successful February 2016.

The prosecution said Ms Letby "interfered" with the infant's breathing conduit successful an effort to termination her.

During her constabulary interview, it was enactment to her Dr Ravi Jayaram had walked into the nursery and saw Ms Letby lasting adjacent Child K, whose oxygen levels had fallen dangerously low.

Ms Letby told constabulary she "didn't recall" Child K's collapse, adding: "I didn't dislodge her tube."

She said if she had noticed Child K's saturation levels she "would person summoned help".

The tribunal besides heard interrogation summaries successful narration to duplicate boys, Child L and M, who the Crown said Ms Letby attempted to execution successful April 2016.

The tribunal has antecedently heard that Child M suffered an unexpected life-threatening illness astatine astir 16:00 connected 9 April. His bosom complaint and breathing dropped dramatically and helium required afloat resuscitation by aesculapian staff.

During his resuscitation, medics logged the exigency drugs administered to Child M connected a insubstantial towel.

The towel was subsequently recovered astatine Ms Letby's location code erstwhile it was searched by constabulary successful 2018.

Ms Letby, primitively of Hereford, told constabulary successful her interrogation that she could not retrieve wherefore she had taken it location and it was an "error".

She said it had been "put to 1 broadside and past forgotten about" and denied keeping the towel to "remind" her of Child M's collapse.

Police besides seized Ms Letby's diary, which contained an introduction successful April 2016 that said "LD [long day] twins", portion the pursuing time had the words "LD twins resus" written, successful notation to Child L and M.

Ms Letby said she had recorded this arsenic it was a "significant event" and denied causing the twins immoderate harm.