Lucy Letby told mum ‘trust me, I’m a nurse’ after she was ‘interrupted attacking baby boy and left him bleeding’
LUCY Letby told the mum of a bleeding baby "trust me, I'm a nurse" after she interrupted her attacking him, a court heard today.
The 32-year-old allegedly murdered seven babies and attempted to kill ten others while working on the neo-natal ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
The "poisoner at work" is accused of injecting two babies with insulin during a year-long killing spree.
Letby also allegedly murdered or harmed others by injecting air or milk into their bloodstream or via a tube in their stomachs.
The collapses and deaths of all 17 children in the case were not "naturally-occurring tragedies", it was said.
Manchester Crown Court heard today how one boy, known as Child E, was allegedly murdered by an injection of air into the bloodstream.
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Jurors were told the baby's mum had visited him on August 3, 2015, in the neo-natal unit where she found him "distressed" and bleeding from the mouth.
Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said: "We say that she interrupted Lucy Letby who was attacking (Child E), although she did not realise it at the time."
The mum told how Letby attempted to reassure her by saying a registrar would review the youngster's condition and she should leave the unit.
She told her "Trust me, I'm a nurse" - but Mr Johnson told the court this was the mum being "fobbed off" by Letby.
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Jurors heard how Child E was bleeding so heavily that one doctor said he had never come across such a large bleed in a small baby.
Later evidence showed this would have represented a combined loss of more than 25 per cent of the baby's blood volume, it was said.
After Child E died, the defendant allegedly made "fraudulent" nursing notes which were "false, misleading and designed to cover her tracks".
She also showed a "very unusual interest" in the tot's family by searching for them seven times on social media - including on Christmas Day, it was said.
Jurors were told the next day, Letby allegedly used insulin for the first time to attempt to kill his twin brother, Child F.
The baby had been prescribed a TPN (total parenteral nutrition) bag of fluids but later suffered an unexpected drop in his blood sugar levels and surge in heart rate, it was said.
'POISON'
Checks were carried out on his insulin levels, which showed "conclusive evidence" someone had given him insulin to poison him.
The court was told no other baby was prescribed the medication on the ward so negligence could not have been a factor.
Mr Johnson said Letby injected insulin into the TPN bag and it "can't have been an accident".
He said there was only one "credible candidate" for the poisoner.
The prosecutor added: "The same person who was present at all the unexplained collapses and deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital on the neo-natal unit."
The court heard how Letby allegedly attempted to murder the same baby on three separate occasions in September 2015.
Child G was born weighing just 1lb 2oz in a different hospital but transferred to the Countess of Chester Hospital where she was said to be "doing well".
After her 100 day birthday was marked on the ward, Letby allegedly fed an excessive amount of milk to Child G through a nasogastric tube and also, probably, injected air.
This led to the youngster vomiting out of her cot on to a nearby chair and the floor despite her size before she suffered a collapse, it was said.
The court was told the baby was moved back to the hospital where she was born before being returned to Chester where a "similar episode" occurred.
Letby was heard shouting "help" when a nurse came in and noticed the baby's monitor had been switched off, it is alleged.
Mr Johnson said Child G was left "severely disabled" as a result of the first two episodes.
'HE'S GOING'
Jurors also heard of Child D's alleged murder in June 2015, where Letby texted a friend saying an "element of fate" was involved in her death.
Mr Johnson said: "We say, tragically for [Child D] her bad luck or fate was the fact that Lucy Letby was working in the neonatal unit that night."
The court also earlier heard about the death of another child that Letby allegedly injected air into on June 14, 2015.
Jurors were told how that night, Letby had been assigned to look after another baby, while a less-qualified nurse was sent to Child C as he was more stable.
But when the assigned professional left the room to visit the nursing station, she heard an alarm going off in the baby's room, it was said.
The court was told she returned to find Letby standing next to Child C's cot as his oxygen levels and heart rate dropped after he "suffered a serious deterioration".
The colleague claims Letby told her: "He's going, he's going".
'PATTERN' OF DEATH
Child C was declared dead just before 6am with medics discovering excessive air in the gut at the time of his collapse that could only be caused by the deliberate introduction of air via the nasal gastric tube.
Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said: "If you are trying to murder a child in a neonatal unit it's a fairly effective way of doing it - it doesn't really leave much of a trace."
Letby later searched on Facebook for the baby's parents shortly after waking up from her night shift, the court heard.
Jurors were told just six days earlier, she allegedly murdered Child A, who was 24 hours old, 90 minutes after taking over his care.
She also allegedly attacked his twin sister, Child B, 28 hours later but she survived.
Child A's collapse was "consistent" with a "deliberate injection" of air a minute or two beforehand when just Letby was present, it is alleged.
Mr Johnson said Child C's death was a "variation - or refinement - of a theme Lucy Letby had started with Children A and B".
He added: "Again, taking a step back, you can now see there was a pattern emerging.
"Lucy Letby was the only person working on the night shift when child C died who had also been working on either of the shifts when child A died and his twin sister child B collapsed.
"What we are going to see, as we progress, is that Lucy Letby's method of attacking the babies in the neo-natal unit was beginning to develop.
"She had injected air into the bloodstream of the first twins, child A and B, and varied this approach by injecting air into child C's stomach via the nasogastric tube."
'ONE COMMON DENOMINATOR'
The court was told yesterday how Letby, who had special training in caring for ICU babies, was a "constant malevolent presence".
She is accused of murdering five boys and two girls, and the attempted murder of another five boys and five girls.
Some of the newborns were repeatedly targeted by the nurse - including one baby Letby is alleged to have killed after three previous failed attempts.
Consultants at the hospital grew suspicious of the "significant rise" in the number of babies dying or suffering "catastrophic" collapses.
Jurors were told they found Letby was the ";one common denominator" among the deaths and collapses.
She denies all 22 charges, which are said to have taken place between June 2015 and June 2016.
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A court order prohibits identifying the surviving and deceased children and prohibits identifying parents or witnesses connected with the babies.
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The trial continues.
