Lucy Letby trial: Nurse had favourite way of killing, jury toldon June 21, 2023 at 4:10 pm

One of nurse Lucy Letby’s “favourite ways of killing and trying to kill children” on a hospital neonatal unit was by injecting air, a prosecutor has told her trial.

Ms Letby is alleged to have murdered seven babies and attempted to murder 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016.

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said experts for the prosecution had told Manchester Crown Court at least 12 of those received an air injection.

Ms Letby, 33, has denied all charges.

On the third day of his closing speech, Mr Johnson told jurors not to ignore the “constellation of coincidences” in baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

He said they should “put all the pieces of the jigsaw together” and suggested the “cumulative picture” told only one story, that Ms Letby “tried to murder or murdered these children”.

Mr Johnson cited the case of Child C, who stopped breathing without warning on 13 June 2015 while being treated in the unit’s nursery one.

He said the collapse and death was “inconsistent” with all natural causes, as asserted by the medical experts in the case.

The prosecutor noted the nurse was seen in nursery one at the time of Child C’s collapse, despite being allocated a baby in nursery three.

He said she was there “with death on her mind”.

Mr Johnson went on to remind the jury of Sophie Ellis’ evidence, who was Child C’s designated nurse that day.

Ms Ellis told the jury how she had briefly left Child C and when she returned to the nursery, Ms Letby was standing over him.

She said the nurse told her: “He’s just had a brady/desat”.

Mr Johnson also said nurse Melanie Taylor had recalled being surprised at how “cool and calm” Ms Letby appeared as medics rushed to help the baby.

He alleged that swelling noted by a doctor in Child C’s vocal chords indicated that “something had been put down his throat”.

This was also a feature in the cases of Child E, Child G, Child H and Child N, he said.

Mr Johnson went on to state that another clue the jurors should consider in Child C’s case was the “massive ballooning” to his stomach.

“It’s as plain as the nose on your face that Lucy Letby must have injected air down the nasogastric tube,” he said.

“It was, after all, one of her favourite ways of killing or trying to kill children in this case.

“There are a constellation of coincidences which can make you sure that [Child C] didn’t die of natural causes and that Lucy Letby killed him.”

Mr Johnson also noted how Ms Letby’s defence counsel, Ben Myers KC, had repeatedly questioned witnesses about the competence of Ms Ellis, who Ms Letby had called the “new girl” in messages to colleagues.

The prosecutor said it was insinuated Ms Ellis was not qualified to be looking after Child C.

“It’s trying to create in the impression in your minds that something was seriously wrong with the hospital,” he said, adding: “It’s gaslighting you, doing to you what Lucy Letby did to her colleagues.”

Mr Johnson later turned to the evidence heard about Child G, who was transferred to the Countess of Chester Hospital from Wirral’s Arrowe Park Hospital in mid-August 2015.

The court has heard she was “clinically stable” until 7 September, when she projectile vomited at about 02:00 BST.

The prosecution case has been that Ms Letby overfed Child G with milk through a nasogastric tube or injected air into the same tube and made two more attempts to kill her on 21 September.

Mr Johnson pointed the jury to what Dr Alison Ventress said about Child G.

The medic told the jury she saw blood-stained secretions coming from the vocal cords in the early hours of 7 September 2015.

“What caused the throat of an otherwise well baby to bleed?” Mr Johnson asked.

“Lucy Letby,” he said.

“It is a signature of many of her attacks on these babies.”

The trial continues.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk