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Lucy Letby offered to take photos of baby she had murdered, trial told

Neonatal nurse injected air into baby’s feeding tube and bloodstream then offered to take pictures of parents bathing her dead body, says prosecution
Lucy Letby

Neonatal nurse injected air into baby’s feeding tube and bloodstream then offered to take pictures of parents bathing her dead body, says prosecution in her trial

Lucy Letby
Lucy Letby Picture: Shutterstock

Nurse Lucy Letby offered to take photographs of a baby girl after she allegedly murdered her, a court has heard.

The prosecution in her trial say the neonatal nurse harmed the premature infant with injections of air into her feeding tube and bloodstream before she eventually died at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit in the early hours of 23 October, 2015.

Ms Letby, from Hereford, denies murdering seven babies and the attempted murders of ten others between June 2015 and June 2016.

On Wednesday, jurors at Manchester Crown Court began to hear evidence about the nurse’s ninth alleged victim, Child I, who was born at Liverpool Women’s Hospital in August 2015 before she was later transferred to the Countess of Chester’s neonatal unit.

Baby’s mother says Letby appeared reserved compared to other nurses

In a statement read to the court, Child I’s mother said her daughter was about six weeks old when she thought she might be well enough to go home.

She recalled that around this time she was allowed to bathe her daughter for the first time and that Ms Letby helped prepare it. She said: ‘I was so pleased to be able to bathe her. (Child I) was obviously enjoying it because she was smiling. ‘I didn’t have too much to do with Lucy. She always appeared reserved compared to other nurses. She didn’t really interact with parents.’

The prosecution say Ms Letby went on to make her first attempt to kill Child I during a day shift on 30 September and two further attempts during night shifts on 12 and 13 October.

Child I’s mother said she was called at home in the early hours of 23 October and told she and her partner needed to go to the hospital immediately.

Parents arrived at hospital and watched resuscitation attempt

On their arrival she saw Ms Letby with another nurse, Ashleigh Hudson, and consultant Dr John Gibbs. She said: ‘They were working to try to resuscitate (Child I). I heard them all counting times.

‘I asked Dr Gibbs how long had they been doing this, to which he said 20 minutes. I could see every time they were pumping her stats would go up, but when they stopped she flatlined every time.’

After Child I was pronounced dead, her parents were moved to a private room. Nurse Hudson and Ms Letby asked her if she wanted to bathe Child I’s body, she said, and that the girl’s father initially declined before she agreed.

She said: ‘I didn’t want to look back and regret not doing it, so I said yes. Lucy brought the bath in. She said she could come in and take some photos which we could keep.

Parents didn’t want an autopsy but were told it was needed ‘to clear the hospital’

‘While we were bathing her, Lucy came back in. She was smiling and kept going on about how she was present at the first bath and how (Child I) had loved it. I wished she would just stop talking. Eventually she realised and stopped. It was not something we wanted to hear.

Child I’s mother added that Dr Gibbs mentioned about having an autopsy, but she told him she did not want it as she ‘wanted her leaving alone.’

‘He said I didn’t have a say because her death was unexpected and the results would be needed to clear the hospital,’ she added.

The trial, expected to last six months, began on 10 October.


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