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Lucy Letby trial: parents begged for newborn to be moved

Father begged a doctor for surviving triplet to be moved to another hospital following the deaths of baby’s brothers, Manchester Crown Court told

Father begged a doctor for surviving triplet to be moved to another hospital following the deaths of the baby’s brothers, Manchester Crown Court told

Lucy Letby
Lucy Letby Picture: Shuttlestock

The parents of a newborn triplet begged for him to be moved to another hospital after his two brothers died within 24 hours, the murder trial of nurse Lucy Letby heard.

Accused alleged to have murdered infants Child O and Child P on successive days

Ms Letby is alleged to have murdered the infants, Child O and Child P, on successive days at the Countess of Chester Hospital in June 2016 on her return from a week’s holiday in Ibiza.

Following the deaths, the boys’ parents begged a doctor to take the surviving triplet to another hospital, the jury at Manchester Crown Court heard on Wednesday.

The boys’ father later told police: ‘While they were there we begged for them to take (the triplet).

‘We said, “There is no way he is staying at this hospital, you’ve got to take him, otherwise we are going to take him ourselves.”’

Boys’ mother recalled seeing doctor ‘Googling how to do what looked like a relatively simple procedure’

In a statement read in court, the triplets’ mother added there ‘did not appear to be any routine as regards to washing hands or general cleanliness’ in the neonatal unit.

She also recalled a female doctor sitting at a computer desk outside nursery 2 as medics battled to try to revive Child P.

The boys’ mother said: ‘She was Googling how to do what looked like a relatively simple procedure, inserting a line into the chest.

‘They needed this procedure because (Child P’s) lungs had collapsed during CPR.

‘Naturally this alarmed me.’

Mother and partner begged doctor to take surviving triplet with him to another hospital

When an ambulance team arrived at the Countess of Chester to prepare for a planned transfer of Child P to Liverpool Women’s Hospital, she said the doctor on board ‘took over.’

She said: ‘We immediately felt reassured. He was calm while everyone else seemed panicky. Eventually he decided (Child P) should not be resuscitated any more.’

At that point, she said, she and her partner begged him to take their surviving triplet with him to Liverpool.

She went on to discharge herself after the Countess of Chester refused to transfer her care to Liverpool Women’s Hospital, she said.

“When we arrived at Liverpool we were shown around and all of the machines by the babies were explained. The alarms sounding were explained.

‘None of this happened at the Countess of Chester. The two hospitals were as different as night and day.’

Ms Letby denies the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016.


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