Day two of the trial of nurse Lucy Letby, who’s charged with murdering 7 babies and attempting to murder another 10 at @TheCountessNHS. I’ll be tweeting lines from the courtroom. Another reminder to please refrain from comment to avoid legal prejudice. Coverage later on @BBCNews 
Nick Johnson KC is continuing to open the case for the prosecution. Again - a reminder - we are not allowed to name the babies because of court order restrictions. Reporters have agreed a system of letters from A - Q to represent each of the 17 babies in the case.
Nick Johnson KC (NJ KC) is continuing to go through the case of each baby individually. He’s now telling the jury about baby C, who Lucy Letby is accused of murdering at 4 days old.
Baby C was premature, and weighed less than 2lb at birth, but was in good condition and initially didn't need resuscitation. He was being cared for by another nurse. But the pros. say that when that nurse left his side his monitor alarm went off, and Lucy Letby was found with him
Jury told: "Baby C was the 3rd baby who had suffered a serious deterioration in a matter of a few days ... and there again was Lucy Letby".
Baby C was desaturating and his heart rate was dropping. Prosn: "You might get the impression from this case that babies collapsing was a common event in the neonatal unit – after all this was the 3rd in a few days...
... but this was the first time one of the other nurses on duty had ever seen a collapse and resuscitation. As baby C collapsed, Lucy Letby said to that nurse – “he’s going”. She was right.
Court told that Lucy Letby was supposed to be in another room entirely, nursing a different baby. But she texted a friend at the time.. (1/2)
..saying she wanted to be in the room where baby C was as it "would help her wellbeing - to see a living baby in the space previously occupied by a dead baby" (the recently deceased baby A who Lucy Letby is also accused of murdering)
Court hears that Lucy Letby also texted her friend that night referring to an image of baby A that she had in her head from the week before and then “sleep well xx"
Jury hears that one of the medical experts looking at the case of baby C 'considered that his collapse was concerning and had no clear cause'... (1/2)
(2/2)'in her view the only feasible mechanism for the excessive air in the gut at the time of baby C's collapse was the deliberate injection of air into his stomach via a naso-gastric tube. It was a variation or refinement of a theme Lucy Letby had started with twin babies A & B'
Jury is told that if air is injected into a baby's stomach, it inflates and compresses the diaphragm, and stops breathing. NJ KC says "so if you're trying to murder a child in a neonatal unit it's a fairly effective way of doing it. It doesn't leave much of a trace"
Court hears that in police interview Lucy Letby agreed that she had been the only person in the room when baby C had collapsed.
Later on the same day that baby C died, Lucy Letby searched on Facebook for baby C's parents. That was the first of her days off having come off night-shift duty at c.08:00hrs that morning. The timing may suggest that this was one of the first things she did having woken up.
Prosn:LL was the only person there when baby C collapsed – just as she had been with baby A and one of 2 there when baby B collapsed. She had no clear reason for being in the room, and she should have been closely watching another baby having already been told off for not doing.
Prosn now moves onto the case of baby D, a girl, born at full term. She had a risk factor because her mother’s waters had broken early. Mum should have been given antibiotics to stave off infection but she was not. Jury told "That failure is a legitimate target of criticism".
Baby D had an infection. Court told that although ill, she was responding well to treatment and was not expected to deteriorate.
Baby D was in the intensive care section of the neonatal unit. She 'collapsed' 3 times. On each occasion, those attending were struck by the sight of mottling and brown / black discolouration to the baby’s skin, mainly over the trunk.. (1/2)
(2/2) The prosecution say that this was another case of an intravenous air injection. Baby D was the victim of the same mode of attack as had been the twins (babies A & B) – Lucy Letby injected air into her bloodstream.
Prosn:"Baby D's death was reported to the Coroner. At the time, cause of death was given as pneumonia with acute lung injury. 3 children had died and one had had a life-threatening episode in the NNU @TheCountessNHS in a 2 week period. Lucy Letby was the only constant presence".
NJ KC says that prosecution medical experts consider that baby D didn't have pneumonia. Tells jury "The injection of 3- 5ml/kg of air is sufficient to kill. It doesn’t take much"
In the aftermath of baby D's death there were many messages sent by Lucy Letby to her friends. One queried what had happened to baby D in the context of what had happened with the preceding deaths and collapses. Letby suggested that all were clearly explicable by natural causes.
Lucy Letby searched for baby D's parents on Facebook. She said she could not explain why she had done it. Pros: "We suggest that if as a nurse you searched for that family of a baby who you had seen die you would know and remember why you had done it".
She was asked about messages she had with one of her colleagues on the day baby D died. In one she said that it was fate that babies get unwell sometimes.Pros: "We say that tragically for baby D, her bad luck or fate was the fact that Lucy Letby was working in the NNU that night"
Pros: So far we have 3 allegations of injecting small babies with air into their bloodstream and one of injecting air into the stomach. They were all children who deteriorated catastrophically, yet none were expected to have serious problems... (1/2)
(2/2) Only one of them survived ... and only Lucy Letby was the constant presence. We suggest... Lucy Letby was also the insulin poisoner".
Jury now told about baby E, a boy, one of twins. His brother baby F survived. Lucy Letby is accused of murdering baby E and attempting to murder baby F.
The twins had been born prematurely at 29 weeks gestation.
Lucy Letby was the designated nurse for both boys.
One night, their mum who was an inpatient on the postnatal ward, decided to visit her twin sons in the NNU. Jury told she interrupted Lucy Letby who was in the process of attacking baby E.
One night, their mum who was an inpatient on the postnatal ward, decided to visit her twin sons in the NNU. Jury told she interrupted Lucy Letby who was in the process of attacking baby E.
Baby E's mum didn't realise he was being attacked. She found him acutely distressed and bleeding from his mouth. She recalls Lucy Letby attempting to reassure her that the blood was due to the tube irritating his throat. '“Trust me I’m a nurse" - that’s what she told her'.
Lucy Letby urged the twins' mum to go back to the post natal ward. She did so, but was so concerned that she phoned her husband.
Jury told that Lucy Letby later made a record on the nursing notes which was not true - about the time that the twins' mum came to visit her sons.
Prosecution: We say that the nursing notes made by Lucy Letby are false, misleading and designed to cover her tracks: they fail to mention that baby E was bleeding at 21:00hrs and they mention a meeting between his mum and a doctor that neither of them remember.
Pros say that baby E was bleeding so heavily that one of the doctors said he had never encountered such a large bleed in a small baby, like this. Subsequent expert evidence establishes that this would have represented a combined loss of over 25% of baby E's blood volume.
Court hears that after baby E's death his parents did not wish to have a post- mortem, the doctor on-call did not deem one necessary and the Coroner’s office agreed. Jury told "As subsequent reviews have established – that was a big mistake".
Court hears that Lucy Letby took a 'very unusual interest' in the parents of the twins, searching for them repeatedly on Facebook, including on Christmas Day 2015.
Nick Johnson KC is moving on to outline the case surrounding baby F, who Lucy Letby is accused of attempting to murder. He is the surviving twin of baby E who she is accused of killing.
It's alleged that Lucy Letby tried to murder baby F in August 2015, on the day after she had killed his twin, baby E.
The prosecution say that she added insulin to baby F's feed. Jury told that insulin is never added directly to a feed bag in this way.
Pros: Baby F’s blood sugar started to drop calamitously whilst Lucy Letby was there and continued after she’d gone. How could that happen? It was so low that if it had remained untreated it may have caused convulsions, coma, apnoea, irreversible brain damage and death.
Pros:"Somebody gave baby F synthetic insulin. Somebody poisoned him. No other baby on the neonatal unit was being prescribed insulin. Therefore it couldn't have been negligence. Whoever did it would have needed to access the locked fridge and, we say, inject it into the feed bag"
Jury are told "It can’t have been an accident. You know who was in the room, and you know from the records who hung the (feed) bag".
Court hears that baby F's nutrients bag was replaced. He survived. But the medical team on the unit were concerned, and ordered checks.
Pros: once again we have a case involving a child for whom Lucy Letby was not the designated nurse but in whom she clearly took an interest...
...We say there can be no doubt that this was a case of insulin poisoning and that whoever did it used a method which would never be used legitimately in a hospital setting. This was not a genuine mistake and that whoever was responsible was trying to avoid detection...
... Only a few people had the opportunity and taken together with what was later to happen to another baby there is, we say, only one credible candidate for the poison: the same person who was present at all the unexpected collapses and deaths. Lucy Letby".
Prosecution moves onto case of baby G, the most premature of the 17 babies, who was born at 23 weeks gestation and weighed 1lb 2oz. Lucy Letby is accused of attempting to murder her on three occasions.
Baby G was born at a different hospital and later transferred to @TheCountessNHS. Court hears that she was doing well. She'd been at Chester for 3 weeks when she turned 100 days old. The nurses hung a banner, and made a cake.
Baby G had been 'perfectly well' that night but then vomited powerfully. She showed signs of infection. She was subsequently transferred away from Chester back to the hospital where she was born, and made a 'remarkable recovery'.
Jury hears that once recovered, baby G was transferred back to Chester. Court hears that Lucy Letby gave her milk via a tube. Within an hour and 5 mins she’d projectile vomited twice and she wasn’t breathing.
Pros: "There had been no significant issues with baby G at all that shift until Lucy Letby got involved. She had vomited because somebody gave her excessive milk and air".
Jury hears that An MRI scan taken between events one and two revealed neurological changes and a MRI scan some months later in August 2016 confirmed that baby G has sustained irreversible brain damage.
Prosecution: "Putting it simply the milk in her vomit did not come from nowhere. That doesn’t happen by accident".
Pros: "Somebody put extra milk and air into baby G. That does not happen by accident. There are parallels here with what happened to (other babies in the trial)"
Pros: "On the second occasion in the afternoon when baby G's cot was behind a screen – someone had switched off the monitor when she collapsed and she was 'discovered' by Lucy Letby. As before, the constant presence was Lucy Letby".
Court hears that baby G has been left severely disabled.
Prosecution: "These were not naturally-occurring, or random events; they were deliberate attempts to kill using slightly different methods by whilst Lucy Letby sought to give the appearance of chance events on the neonatal unit"
The jury has been sent home. Case finished for today. Back tomorrow at 1030am.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
