Prosecutors Allege During Trial British Nurse Offered To Take Photos Of Infant She's Accused Of Murdering
Prosecutors told jurors a British nurse allegedly offered to take photographs of a child she’s accused of killing, as her murder trial continues, according to the BBC.
Lucy Letby, 33, is charged with murdering seven babies, and attempting to murder 10 others, at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016.
In the latest allegations by the prosecution, Letby allegedly attempted to kill “Child I” on Sept. 30, 2015, and during night shifts on Oct. 12 and 13, by injecting air into the baby’s feeding tube and bloodstream. The child died in the early hours of Oct. 23, according to the BBC. The baby was born prematurely at 27 weeks in August at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, weighing 2 pounds, 2 ounces, and was later transferred to Countess of Chester Hospital.
In a statement read to the court, “Child I’s” mother said when her daughter was about 6 weeks old she thought she’d soon be well enough to go home.
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“She was looking around the room now, taking it all in,” the statement read, according to the BBC. “I was able to sit her on my knee. I remember looking at her and thinking ‘we are going home.’ She looked like a full-term baby—she didn’t look frail or small.”
olice activity at a house in Chester, believed to be the home of nurse Lucy Letby, after Cheshire Police announced a female healthcare professional had been arrested in a probe into the deaths of 17 infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Photo: Getty Images
The mother said Letby helped her prepare a bath the first time she was allowed to bathe her daughter and said Letby said she was “so pleased to be able to bathe her,” also adding “Lucy even offered to take some photos using my mobile, which I agreed to.”
“Child I’s” mother said she was called at home early on Oct. 23, 2015 and told she needed to get to the hospital immediately, where she saw another nurse and doctor “working to resuscitate” her daughter, according to the BBC.
After her daughter’s death, “Child I”’s mother said the other nurse and Letby asked if she wanted to bathe the body, and said in her statement Letby brought the bath in and again offered to take photos.
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“While we were bathing her, Lucy came back in,” the statement read, according to the BBC. “She was smiling and kept going on about how she was present at the first bath and how [Child I] had loved it.”
“Child I’s” mother said she “wished she would just stop talking. Eventually she realized and stopped. It was not something we wanted to hear,” the statement continued. The mother told the court Letby was the one to package up her child’s belongings when they left the hospital.
The mother of “Child I” said Letby “always appeared reserved compared to other nurses. She didn’t really interact with parents” in the statement reported by the BBC.
But the prosecution told jurors Letby searched for “Child I’s” mother on Facebook before and after the infant’s death, with searches on 01:15 GMT Oct. 5, 2015, 23:45 GMT Nov. 5, 2015, and on 23:00 GMT May 29, 2016.
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Earlier in the trial, Oxygen.com reported Letby allegedly tried to kill another baby twice, and that hospital staff could not explain why that baby suffered a cardiac collapse. She also allegedly tried to kill a child three times, with prosecutors accusing Letby of overfeeding the child with milk or injecting air into a nasogastic tube. Prosecutors also alleged Letby used insulin to try and murder another child, causing drops in blood sugar levels and surges in heart rates.
Letby’s murder trial began in Manchester Crown Court in October of 2022 and is expected to last at least six months, according to previous Oxygen.com reporting.
