Lucy Letby says baby's death was an 'unexpected shock' as she stands trial for murdering children in hospital

She denies all the charges against her.

This morning, Benjamin Myers KC – Letby’s defence barrister – began proceedings by asking the defendant about the circumstances surrounding Child A.

It’s been alleged by the prosecution that Lucy Letby murdered Child A on June 8 of 2015, via an injection of air into his bloodstream.

Recalling the events of that day, Letby told the court that she had not originally been scheduled to work, but had received a text that morning asking her to come in. She said that she always tried to be “flexible”, helping the team whenever she could.

When she came in that evening for her shift, Letby was assigned to care for Child A. He died shortly before 9pm that night.

The former nurse described his decline, explaining that four staff members were attending to Child A just before his death. The jury heard about their attempts to save his life, but that ultimately, they were unable to save him.

Letby told the court: “It was a huge, unexpected shock.”

Having reached the end of his questions about Child A, Benjamin Myers KC said to the defendant: “It’s been alleged you did this. Did you?”

Letby responded with one word: “No.”

Myers then moved on to Child B, the twin sister of Child A. The prosecution alleges that Letby attempted to murder Child B between June 8 and 11 in 2015, via an injection of air into her bloodstream.

At around half past midnight on June 10, Child B’s condition began to deteriorate, with an emergency ‘crash call’ put out a few minutes later.

The defendant recalled that, after one of the other staff members had noted a rapid change in the colour of Child B’s skin, she had been sent to collect a camera kept on the unit. She explained that this is used to document any unusual symptoms expressed by babies on the ward.

However, by the time she had returned with the camera, Child B’s condition had stabilised, and that “her colour was normal.”

After a short break, Myers moved on to question the defendant about Child C, whom the prosecution suggests was murdered by Letby on June 14 in 2015. They say she did this by administering him with an injection of air into the stomach via a nasogastric tube.

As part of the evidence, the court was shown a text sent by Letby to a colleague on June 11, in which she said: “Think I need to throw myself back in on (Saturday).”

When asked what she meant by this, Letby explained that, following the death of Child A and the collapse of Child B, she felt she needed to get back into things by “caring for babies.” Child C passed away at the Countess of Chester Hospital three days later.

The defence will now continue to question Lucy Letby about each baby, one-by-one, until evidence has been heard about each of them.

The trial continues.