Nurse Lucy Letby attacked babies on her neo-natal unit to catch the attention of a doctor she ‘had a crush on’, a court heard.
Letby, 33, was ‘disappointed’ when he left the ward during a shift in June 2016 and later ‘sabotaged’ a baby boy, named only as Child O, so she could ‘get his attention’, jurors were told.
According to Metro, she then turned her attention to the infant’s brother, Child P, the following day because she ‘enjoyed being in a crisis situation’ with the registrar, prosecutors claim.
Manchester Crown Court has heard that Children O and P were two of three triplets and both died following fatal administrations of air. Letby is said to have taken a photo of them lying dead in their cots.
She denies murdering them and five other infants as well as trying to kill 10 more at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
Letby is alleged to have murdered Child O on her first shift back following a week’s holiday to Ibiza with two friends on June 23, 2016. She is accused of murdering Child P the next day.
Jurors have already heard she had messaged a colleague saying she would ‘probably be back in with a bang’ after the break.
Cross-examining Letby on her 13th day in the witness box on Thursday, prosecutor Nick Johnson KC suggested she was ‘sweet’ on the registrar – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – which she denied.
During their shift on June 23, Letby texted the doctor: ‘Bit rubbish that you couldn’t stay on nnu (neonatal unit). ‘You may get time for lunch though if on clinic.’
Mr Johnson asked Letby: ‘Were you disappointed he was not there?’ Letby said: ‘Yes, I enjoyed working with (the doctor).’
The prosecutor went on: ‘Were you missing him?’ Letby said: ‘No, this was my first day back at work.’
Mr Johnson said: ‘Did you want to get his attention?’ Letby answered: ‘No.’ Mr Johnson asked: ‘Is that the reason you sabotaged (Child O)?’
Letby repeated: ‘No.’ Letby, Child O’s designated nurse, called for the doctor’s assistance at about 1.15pm after the infant vomited following a milk feed 45 minutes earlier.
Medical entries showed Letby signed for the feed but, giving her 13th day of evidence, she told the court that the infant was actually fed by a student nurse she was mentoring.
Mr Johnson said: ‘You deliberately overfed (Child O), didn’t you?’ Letby replied: ‘No I didn’t. I was not feeding this baby.’
Up to 90 minutes later, Letby called for help from the registrar who was working in a neighbouring nursery, the court heard.
The prosecutor asked her: ‘Were you trying to get his attention?’ Letby said: ‘Yes, I wanted him to be with (Child O).’ Mr Johnson said: ‘Personal attention as well?’ Letby said: ‘No, he was the registrar on the unit that day.’
During questioning on Wednesday, Mr Johnson suggested Letby ‘had a crush’ on the doctor, which she denied.
Letby agreed that a liver injury sustained by Child O – discovered post-mortem – must have been inflicted during the shift but insisted: ‘I don’t know how that has happened.’
Mr Johnson said: ‘You injected (Child O’s) stomach with gas down the NGT (nasogastric tube), didn’t you?’ Letby said: ‘No I didn’t.’
The KC said: ‘You injected air into his circulation.’ Letby again said: ‘No.’ Mr Johnson said: ‘And through some violent mechanism, you inflicted that liver injury on him.’ ‘No,’ Letby repeated.
Child O continued to decline throughout the afternoon and was baptised before dying in his parents’ arms at 5.47pm. Mr Johnson accused Letby of then turning her attention to Child O’s brother Child P who was also in her care.
The prosecutor said: ‘You had already put your plan into motion by pumping (Child P) before you left, hadn’t you?’ ‘No,’ Letby said.
Mr Johnson went on: ‘You overfed (Child P) sometime between 6pm and handing him over at 8pm, didn’t you?’ Letby said: ‘No.’
He died on June 24 as he was being prepared for transfer to another hospital.
Jurors heard his condition was noted down as ‘unremarkable’ the previous day, with Mr Johnson suggesting events ‘took a turn’ after his sibling’s death.
When the infant collapsed, he said Letby was ‘very keen’ for the doctor to be called. Letby told jurors another medic asked her to call him.
‘Were you trying to attract (the doctor’s) attention?’ Mr Johnson asked. Letby replied ‘No’, before he followed on: ‘Did you enjoy being in this crisis situation with (him)?’ ‘No,’ Letby said.
‘Did it give you something to talk about, to message about?’ the prosecutor asked. ‘Something to have in common and you could share?
‘No, (he) and I were friends,’ she said.
A further deterioration happened just before 12.30pm when the registrar and another doctor were in a tea room when they heard a call for help from Letby.
The second doctor – who also cannot be identified for legal reasons – has previously told the jury that Letby went on to say to her:
‘He’s not leaving alive is he?’Letby said she could not recall the conversation.
Mr Johnson said: ‘That, as a matter of fact, was an accurate prediction.’
Letby said: ‘I don’t recall saying that.’
Mr Johnson said: ‘Did you enjoy making predictions when you knew what was going to happen?
‘No,’ said Letby.
Child P continued to decline and was pronounced dead at 4pm.
Mr Johnson put it to Letby that she was ‘falling over yourself’ to message a colleague about the boy’s death later that evening.
Letby said: ‘No, I told her out of respect.’
She added it was ‘common practice’ to try and make nursing staff aware of such outcomes before they walked on to the unit and found out.
Mr Johnson said: ‘She was at the races. Why didn’t you just leave her alone?’ Letby said: ‘She was asking me.’
The prosecutor said: ‘Did you enjoy the drama?’ Letby replied: ‘No.’
The trial continues.
