Lucy Letby trial day three: Nurse ‘killed two out of three triplets’ – and ‘smiled after killing another premature baby girl at fourth attempt’
A neonatal nurse killed two out of three triplet boys and smiled after killing another premature baby girl on the fourth attempt, a court has heard.
Lucy Letby is charged with 22 counts of murder and attempted murder, involving 17 babies, and is alleged to have gone on a year-long killing spree at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.
Letby, of Arran Avenue, Hereford, has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
See the latest updates from court
She denies murdering five boys and two girls and attempting to murder another five boys and five girls.
Warning: This article contains descriptions of newborn and infant deaths, which some readers may find distressing
During the third day of the trial at Manchester Crown Court, jurors were told about eight babies who, the prosecution says, were attacked by Letby.
Pic: Shutterstock
Letby ‘killed two triplet boys’
Prosecutors told the court about Children O and P – two of three triplet boys who Letby allegedly murdered.
Child O died within a few minutes of Letby entering the neonatal unit, at a time when Letby was alone in his room.
Following his death, he was found to have severe liver damage beyond that expected from the CPR he had undergone.
Nick Johnson KC told the court that independent medical experts concluded the damage was “likely the result of some impact trauma”.
“In brutal terms, an assault,” the prosecutor said.
A consultant at the hospital said he was “particularly concerned” about Child O’s death because he had been “clinically stable” beforehand.
What happened on day two of the Lucy Letby trial
Nurse ‘smiled’ after death – and sent sympathy card to victim’s family
“Cold-blooded” Lucy Letby tried to kill one “resilient” newborn girl four times “before succeeding”, the court was told.
Letby was also questioned by police about why she had sent a sympathy card to the baby’s parents.
She had said this was the only time she had done it, “but it is not often the nurses got to know a family as well as they had known Child I’s.”
She accepted to officers that she had kept an image of the card on her phone.
Following Child I’s death on 23 October, Letby asked her parents if they wanted to bathe their baby daughter.
Mr Johnson told the court as the baby’s mother “bathed her recently departed child, Lucy Letby came into the room and in the words of the mother was ‘smiling and kept going on about how she was present at Child I’s first bath and how much Child I had loved it’.”
An independent medical expert concluded the “constellation of findings would strongly indicate Child I died due to unnatural causes”.
Letby is charged with 22 counts of murder and attempted murder
Consultants at hospital had grown suspicious of Letby
By the time Child L was attacked, in April 2016, doctors at the hospital had grown suspicious of Letby.
“By this time Letby was supposed only to be working day shifts because the consultants were concerned about the correlation between her presence and unexpected deaths/life-threatening episodes on the night shifts,” the prosecution told the court.
One consultant walked in on Letby trying to kill Child K after he had grown concerned about the baby being left alone with her, the prosecution said.
The consultant began to feel “uncomfortable” when he realised Letby was alone with the child “because he was beginning to notice the coincidence between the unexplained deaths/serious collapses and the presence of Lucy Letby”.
When he walked into the room, he noted that the infant’s breathing tube was dislodged.
“We alleged she was trying to kill Child K when the paediatric consultant walked in on her,” Mr Johnson told the court.
Pre-term baby ‘screamed’ for 30 minutes
Letby allegedly used the haemophilia of one child – known as Child N – as a cover under which to attack him.
The disease, which causes bleeding for no reason, was attributed to many of the episodes involving the infant boy.
In one instance, the infant’s throat was so swollen and covered with “fresh blood” that a consultant was unable to get a breathing tube down.
There were more attempts made to reintubate Child N, as he was so unwell, but doctors were “unable to see down Child N’s throat because the view was obscured by fresh blood” and a specialist team had to be called in.
“Something – somebody, we say – had caused Child N to bleed again,” the prosecution said.
Child N experienced a “sudden deterioration” which was consistent with some kind of “inflicted injury which caused severe pain, distress and destabilised him”, the court heard.
Independent medical experts said this was “consistent with inflicted injury or having received an injection of air”, jurors were told.
One of the medical experts wrote: “This is life-threatening. He was also noted to be… ‘screaming’ and apparently cried for 30 minutes.
“This is most unusual.
“I have never observed a premature neonate to scream.”
The trial continues.
A man has pleaded guilty to selling a substance online to assist with the suicide of others.
Miles Cross, 33, admitted four counts of intentionally doing an act capable of encouraging or assisting the suicide of another.
Cross provided chemicals to Shubhreet Singh on 22 August last year, Wrexham Magistrates’ Court heard during an October hearing.
Ms Singh, 26, died in West Yorkshire last year.
The three other counts relate to three victims who are alive and cannot be named due to reporting restrictions.
The incidents are said to have happened in August and September 2024.
Police are also investigating a second death in connection with the packages Cross sold online.
Cross arrives at Mold Crown Court to enter his guilty plea
Cross had set up a business selling the chemical via an internet discussion forum and interacted with others on the forum under a pseudonym.
He joined the site in July 2024 and posted a QR code, which allowed people to order the chemical directly from him and pay via his bank account.
Cross received payments of £100 from four people and sent them the chemical through the post.
Cross, from Wrexham, was arrested in January following a police investigation into sales via the forum to assist with suicide. Officers found the chemical and other paraphernalia at his address.
His devices were seized, which linked Cross to the forum, social media profiles and the bank account.
“Miles Cross preyed on four people in a distressed state and knowingly provided a substance intended to end their lives,” Alison Storey, specialist prosecutor with the CPS Special Crime Division, said.
“His actions were purely for financial gain, and he made the process of ordering the chemical online easy and accessible.”
Court artist drawing of Miles Cross. Pic: PA
She said the case was a “stark reminder of the dangers posed by those who aim to exploit vulnerable individuals online”, adding that the CPS hopes that Cross pleading guilty brings “some measure of justice” to the victims and their families.
North Wales Police’s Detective Superintendent Chris Bell said: “Cross took advantage and exploited his victims in their most desperate moments, profiting off their vulnerability and mental illnesses.
“I hope today’s admission provides the victims and their families with some peace of mind and relief that they are now spared the ordeal of a trial. My thoughts, and those of the whole investigation team, remain with them today.”
Read more from Sky News:
Calls for reconstructive surgery for FGM on the NHS
Number of Britons leaving the UK higher than thought
He added: “This has been a highly complex and sensitive investigation over the past 10 months, and I want to acknowledge the courage of the witnesses who played an integral part in the investigation during such difficult circumstances.”
Cross will be sentenced at Mold Crown Court on 7 January.
If you’ve been affected by this story and want to talk to someone, you can call Samaritans free on 116 123 anytime day or night. You can also email jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org to find support online.
The Princess of Wales has delivered a rare speech calling on businesses to value “time and tenderness just as much as productivity and success”, as part of her push to make society put the needs of children first.
During her first speech since she was diagnosed with cancer at the start of 2024, Kate reflected on the importance of love, telling 80 business leaders, “the love we feel in our earliest years fundamentally shapes who we become and how we thrive as adults”.
But in a call to action for businesses, she added: “Every one of you interacts with your own environment; a home, a family, a business, a workforce, a community. These are the ecosystems that you yourselves help to weave.
“Imagine a world where each of these environments were built on valuing time and tenderness just as much as productivity and success.
“As business leaders, you will face the daily challenge of finding the balance between profitability and having a positive impact. But the two are not, and should not be incompatible.”
Princess of Wales talks with business leaders and attendees at the Future Workforce Summit. Pic: Reuters
The Princess of Wales leaves after attending the Future Workforce Summit at Salesforce Tower in London.
Pic: PA
At the Future Workforce Summit, hosted by her Royal Foundation Business Taskforce, Kate thanked her team at the Centre of Early Childhood “for holding the fort, particularly over the last couple of years”.
She was also joined by former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate as she called on business leaders to invest more in the early years development of children.
Read more from Sky News:
X, Spotify and ChatGPT among those hit by major outage
Number of Britons leaving the UK higher than previously thought
The event came as The Royal Foundation released a new report called “The Human Advantage”, exploring how, as AI increasingly handles technical tasks, competitive advantage will rely on human skills that technology cannot replicate.
But while the survey found that 81% of business leaders believe there will be an increased need for human skills in the next five to 10 years, very few business leaders identified the unique importance of early childhood in the development of these skills.
Gareth Southgate attends the Future Workforce Summit. Pic: Reuters
In summer 2024, the Royal Foundation Business Taskforce for Early Childhood produced a report recommending a range of interventions from creating a culture inside and outside firms that prioritises childhood to supporting parents with greater resources and flexibility in the workplace.
Involving the chief executives of Ikea, NatWest Group and Deloitte, the report highlighted how the nation could benefit from an estimated £45.5bn.
The report followed the launch of Kate’s long-term campaign, Shaping Us, in January 2023, described as the princess’ “life’s work”, and aimed at highlighting the crucial first five years of a child’s life.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024