Lucy Letby trial: Court told there was a 'pattern emerging' in how nurse allegedly murdered seven babies

“There was a pattern emerging” – the jury has heard how the former nurse carried out her alleged attacks on babies.

The prosecution in the Lucy Letby trial has continued their opening, as the jury heard details surrounding the charges involving Child C through to Child G.

Lucy Letby, 32, denies murdering seven babies, as well as the attempted murders of a further ten babies, whilst she worked on the neo-natal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The former nurse has been charged with 22 separate counts, as in some instances, she has been accused of multiple attempts on the lives of some of the babies involved.

At Manchester Crown Court yesterday, the prosecution began their opening arguments, outlining the charges surrounding Child A and Child B in this trial.

Today, prosecutor Nick Johnson KC, started with Child C, who was allegedly murdered by Lucy Letby on the 14th of June 2015.

In this instance, Child C was killed by an injection of air into the stomach via a nasogastric tube which caused him to go into cardiac arrest. Shortly before this, the court heard, Lucy Letby had told a colleague: ‘He’s going. He’s going.’

The jury were then told that seeing this method of air being injected would be replicated as the trial went on. “You can now see there was a pattern emerging,” Mr Johnson KC said.

The prosecution then went on to describe the details surrounding the death of Child D, who was allegedly murdered by Lucy Letby on the 22nd of June 2015.

This baby was killed as a result of air injected into the bloodstream, just over a week after the death of Child C.

The jury then heard about the instances of Child E and Child F – twin boys, one of whom was killed, whilst the other survived.

In the case of Child E, the court heard that when their mother tried to visit her child, “she interrupted Lucy Letby who was attacking (Child E), although she did not realise it at the time.

His mother found him in extreme distress and bleeding from the mouth, but she was told by Lucy Letby “‘trust me, I’m a nurse’”, Mr Johnson KC told the court.

This child was ultimately killed by an injection of air into his bloodstream, once again – the prosecution set out – whilst Lucy Letby was on shift.

They also went on to suggest that Letby showed a “very unusual interest” in the family of Child E. In fact, the court heard, she made social media searches for the family on several occasions – including on Christmas day.

The prosecutor then moved on to the case of Child F – the twin brother of Child E – who was poisoned by insulin.

This is one of two instances of insulin poisoning the prosecution suggests Lucy Letby carried out – the other one being Child L, who, the jury were told, they would come to in due course.

The final matter dealt with by the court today were the charges surrounding Child G, who Lucy Letby allegedly attempted to kill on three separate occasions: once on the 7th of September 2015, with a further two attempts on the 21st of September 2015.

These attempts on her life have left Child G “severely disabled,” the prosecution told the jury. As a result, three of the 22 charges against Lucy Letby all relate to the attempted murder of Child G.

It’s anticipated that the prosecution will continue their opening tomorrow, starting with Child H.

Letby, 32, denies seven counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.