Lucy Letby trial: Nurse killed baby and sent parents card, trial told - BBC

A caregiver accused of murdering babies connected a neonatal ward killed a premature babe miss connected the 4th effort earlier sending her parents a sympathy card, a tribunal has heard.

Lucy Letby is charged with murdering 7 babies and attempting to execution 10 others astatine Countess of Chester Hospital successful 2015 and 2016.

Manchester Crown Court was told Ms Letby allegedly tried to termination the miss by injecting her with air.

Ms Letby, 32, denies 22 charges.

Continuing the prosecution's opening connection for a 3rd day, Nick Johnson KC said the circumstances of the girl's decease were "an utmost illustration adjacent by the standards of this case".

"There were 4 abstracted occasions connected which we allege Lucy Letby tried to termination her," helium said.

The child, referred to for ineligible reasons arsenic Child I, was "resilient," helium said, "but yet astatine the 4th attempt, Lucy Letby succeeded successful sidesplitting her".

He said connected the archetypal juncture Ms Letby, of Hereford, had injected Child I with air.

On her 2nd attempt, helium said she had stood successful the doorway of the girl's darkened country and commented she looked pale.

The girl's designated caregiver past turned connected the airy and saw Child I was not breathing.

Following a 3rd alleged effort to termination her, Child I was again recovered to person excess aerial successful her stomach, which had affected her breathing.

She was transferred to Arrowe Park Hospital wherever she stabilised, earlier being taken backmost to Chester, the tribunal heard.

When Child I's aesculapian alarm went disconnected pursuing a 4th attempt, different caregiver recovered Ms Letby adjacent to the incubator, the assemblage was told.

The babe died that morning.

Mr Johnson said: "[Child I] was calved precise aboriginal and precise small.

"But she survived the archetypal 2 months of her beingness and was doing good by the clip Lucy Letby got her hands connected her.

"It was persistent, it was calculated and it was cold-blooded."

The tribunal heard however successful the contiguous aftermath of Child I's decease her parents were taken to a backstage country and asked if the baby's parent wanted to bathe her daughter.

As the parent bathed her child, Ms Letby came into the country and, successful the words of the mother, she "was smiling and kept going connected astir however she was contiguous astatine the baby's archetypal bath and however overmuch the babe had loved it".

The assemblage was told Ms Letby aboriginal sent a sympathy paper to the child's parents and kept an representation of the paper connected her phone.

During a constabulary interrogation she agreed this was antithetic but said it was not often nurses got to cognize a household arsenic good arsenic they had got to cognize Child I's, the tribunal heard.

The tribunal was besides told however a suspicious doc walked successful connected Ms Letby arsenic she allegedly attempted to termination different baby.

Dr Ravi Jayaram, a paediatric consultant, had helped present Child K, who was calved astatine 25 weeks, and aboriginal became alert Ms Letby was unsocial with the baby.

Mr Johnson told the jury: "Feeling uncomfortable with this due to the fact that helium had started to announcement the coincidence betwixt the unexplained deaths, superior collapses and the beingness of Lucy Letby, Dr Jayaram decided to cheque connected wherever [Ms Letby] was and however Child K was.

"As helium walked successful helium saw Ms Letby lasting implicit Child K's incubator.

"Dr Jayaram could spot from the show connected the partition that Child K's oxygen saturation level was falling dangerously low, to determination successful the 80s."

He said an alarm should person been sounding arsenic Child K's oxygen levels were falling.

"We allege she was trying to termination Child K erstwhile Dr Jayaram walked in," Mr Johnson said.

Dr Jayaram recovered Child K's thorax was not moving and asked Ms Letby if thing had happened, to which she replied: "She's conscionable started deteriorating now."

Mr Johnson said Dr Jayaram recovered Child K's breathing conduit had been dislodged.

The authoritative said it was imaginable for this to hap successful an progressive baby, but Child K was precise premature and had been sedated.

The assemblage heard the alarm should person sounded but could beryllium overridden for 1 minute.

Despite his concerns astatine the time, Dr Jayaram did not marque a enactment of his suspicions, the tribunal heard.

Later the aforesaid greeting Ms Letby was again astatine Child K's cot calling for help.

She was assisting the babe with her breathing and it was recovered Child K's breathing conduit had this clip slipped excessively acold into her throat, the tribunal heard.

Child K was transferred to different infirmary aboriginal that time but remained unwell and died 2 days later. Ms Letby is not accused of her murder.

Earlier, Mr Johnson told the tribunal astir attempts made connected the beingness of different premature girl, Child H, connected 2 consecutive nighttime shifts.

He said that miss had a bid of known aesculapian problems but had suffered 2 inexplicable collapses.

He said connected the archetypal night, Ms Letby was the girl's designated caregiver and, aft she collapsed, she was transferred to Arrowe Park Hospital and underwent a "dramatic improvement".

He said Ms Letby had not been Child H's designated caregiver the pursuing night, aft she was returned to Chester.

Mr Johnson said: "It is simply a notable information successful the lawsuit of [Child H] and others that arsenic soon arsenic children were removed from the Countess of Chester and the sphere of power of Lucy Letby, it was often followed by their abrupt and singular recovery."

He said a week aft the baby's collapses, Ms Letby searched Facebook for the girl's parents and for the families of 2 different children she is accused of attacking.

The tribunal besides heard astir Child J, who Ms Letby is accused of trying to murder.

She was a premature babe miss who was "doing good and healthy" aft a bowel operation.

But she suffered 2 superior problems with her breathing overnight successful November 2015 erstwhile Ms Letby was 1 of the six nurses working, the assemblage was told.

She was moved to a high-dependency country and had a seizure astatine 06:56 GMT. At 07:20 Ms Letby gave the babe a glucose infusion.

Minutes aboriginal Child J collapsed again with a seizure and had to beryllium resuscitated, with the assistance of a doctor, but helium could not explicate wherefore it had happened again, the assemblage heard.

An autarkic aesculapian adept who reviewed Child J's lawsuit said it was "of interest and accordant with immoderate signifier of obstruction of her airways, specified arsenic smothering".

Again, Ms Letby, made searches connected Facebook for the child's parents .

The assemblage was told of duplicate babe brothers, Child L and M, who the caregiver is charged with attempting to execution successful April 2016.

By this time, Ms Letby was expected lone to beryllium moving time shifts due to the fact that consultants were acrophobic astir the correlation betwixt her beingness and unexpected deaths and life-threatening episodes connected the night-shifts.

Mr Johnson said the suspect had volunteered to enactment an other displacement aft she noted Child L's debased glucose levels soon aft his commencement the erstwhile day.

"We accidental that successful effect she saw the accidental to implicit what she had attempted [with Child F]," helium said.

The prosecution said Ms Letby attacked Child L archetypal by adding insulin to his nutrient provender and then, portion that onslaught was underway, administering aerial into Child M's circulation.

Child M suffered an unexpected life-threatening lawsuit "without warning" and came adjacent to decease and his twin's humor sweetener was near dangerously owed to the insulin poisoning, the tribunal heard.

When Ms Letby's location successful Chester was searched 2 years later, aesculapian notes were recovered detailing however galore doses of adrenaline were fixed to Child M during his illness and a enactment of his illness was successful her diary.

"She denied the notes were a souvenir and she denied deliberately trying to harm [Child M]," Mr Johnson said.

The caregiver allegedly tried to termination different premature baby, referred to arsenic Child N, who had a humor disorder, connected 3 occasions.

Mr Johnson said this meant Ms Letby believed, wrongly, that his upset gave her "cover" to onslaught him due to the fact that if helium bled it would beryllium enactment down to the condition.

He suffered a abrupt life-threatening lowering of his humor oxygen levels but recovered aft exigency assistance, the tribunal heard.

Independent aesculapian experts said the baby's abrupt deterioration was accordant with immoderate benignant of "inflicted injury" oregon him having received an injection of air.

Twelve days later, successful June 2016, Ms Letby is alleged to person made 2 much attempts to execution Child N.

The tribunal besides heard astir Child O and Child P, 2 boys from a acceptable of triplets. Ms Letby is charged with murdering them some connected successive days.

Within a fewer minutes of the caregiver coming into the neonatal unit, Child O suffered his archetypal illness described arsenic a "remarkable deterioration", the assemblage was told.

A breathing conduit was inserted by aesculapian unit and the babe was resuscitated but helium suffered different occurrence aboriginal and this clip doctors were not capable to resuscitate him, the tribunal heard.

A twelvemonth later, connected the day of Child O's death, Ms Letby carried retired a Facebook hunt for his family's surname, the tribunal was told.