Latest development A court has learned that Lucy Letby hugged a mother after she allegedly tried to kill her baby.
On Thursday, a court was told she had tried three times to kill Child N, who was born in June 2016 weighing 3 pounds 11 oz, Manchester Crown Court heard on Thursday.
The prosecution alleges that Letby made her first attempt on June 3. She is accused of carrying out two more attacks on June 15.
In a statement, the child’s father said he received a call from Letby on the day the baby was due to be discharged. When they got there, the baby, who has the blood-clotting disease hemophilia, was in intensive care and Letby was lying next to his bed, he said.
He said, “Lucy just said hi, he was a little unwell last night.” I felt shocked when I looked at him.”
The father said the baby’s condition worsened twice more, once when he and his partner left to get food and again when they left to seek medical advice for his partner, who was feeling unwell.
He said: “Lucy then came to us. She told us that she had stayed late past the end of her shift and she said to (my partner) ‘I hope he is well’ and gave my partner a hug.”
The 33-year-old is charged with murdering seven babies and trying to kill 10 others while working as a neonatal nurse at Countess of Chester Hospital
As the trial continues, Yahoo News UK is outlining who Letby is and what she has been accused of.
How old is Lucy Letby and where is she from?
Letby is 33. Her address has been given in court as Arran Avenue, Hereford, but she is known to have lived in the Blacon area of Chester.
She worked in the neonatal ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
In a 2013 interview with the Chester and District Standard newspaper, the nurse said she cared for babies who needed different levels of support.
She worked on the ward as a student nurse for three years before qualifying as a pediatric nurse at the University of Chester in 2011.
Letby said she started working with the unit after graduating.
When was Lucy Letby arrested and what is she accused of?
Letby was arrested three times in two years during an investigation into infant deaths in the neonatal ward at Countess of Chester Hospital.
The first arrest was in July 2018, on suspicion of the murder of eight babies and the attempted murder of six babies. She has been released on bail.
Letby was subsequently arrested again in June 2019, again on suspicion of murdering eight babies and the attempted murder of six babies. This time she was also arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of three additional babies. She has been released on bail.
Finally, in November 2020, Letby was arrested again on suspicion of the murder of eight babies and the attempted murder of nine babies.
A day later, the police charged Letby with eight counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder. The costs related to a period between June 2015 and June 2016.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing at Manchester Crown Court in October 2021.
In June last year, Letby filed an acquittal on one of the murder charges.
It meant that when she went on trial last October, she faced seven counts of murder (five boys and two girls) and ten counts of attempted murder (five boys and five girls).
How did Lucy Letby plead?
Letby denies the alleged crimes, which allegedly took place between June 2015 and June 2016.
