UK - Nurse Lucy Letby, Faces 22 Charges - 7 Murder/15 Attempted Murder of Babies #26

Status
Not open for further replies.
  • #441
Up here in the NW, school places are very much attached to having been baptised. Therefore most people baptise, to get their kid into school. I would say 75% do.

Myself and husband are both atheist as is the person we used as godparent. Was all a bit of a joke really. We didn't bother inviting anyone, having a party etc... it was just to get the certificate, which meant we could apply to more schools. Absolute nonsense imo
 
  • #442
Up here in the NW, school places are very much attached to having been baptised. Therefore most people baptise, to get their kid into school. I would say 75% do.

Myself and husband are both atheist as is the person we used as godparent. Was all a bit of a joke really. We didn't bother inviting anyone, having a party etc... it was just to get the certificate, which meant we could apply to more schools. Absolute nonsense imo
Really? State schools are requiring this???
 
  • #443
Up here in the NW, school places are very much attached to having been baptised. Therefore most people baptise, to get their kid into school. I would say 75% do.

Myself and husband are both atheist as is the person we used as godparent. Was all a bit of a joke really. We didn't bother inviting anyone, having a party etc... it was just to get the certificate, which meant we could apply to more schools. Absolute nonsense imo

Just Catholic (or C of E schools possibly) though, surely? That's the case everywhere.
 
  • #444
  • #445
So, are we back today or is this another "rest day" for the court?
 
  • #446
Just a heads up, I won't be able to do the updates today as I'm going to be in and out.

Today's live link LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, June 21 - prosecution closing speech

and Tweeters

Dan O'Donoghue
@MrDanDonoghue
·
2m

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC is on his feet at Manchester Crown Court as he begins day three of his closing speech in the murder trial of Lucy Letby. The nurse is accused of killing seven babies and attempting to kill a further 10 between 2015 and 2016, she denies all charges

Andy Gill

@MerseyHack
·
32s

Mr Johnson is reminding the jury about evidence relating to 2 alleged victims, twins known as Babies A and B. Miss Letby is accused of murdering the baby boy and attempting to murder his sister in June 2015. Miss Letby denies this.
 
  • #447
  • #448
10:34am

Nicholas Johnson KC resumes the closing speech for the prosecution, starting with the final part for the case of twins Child A and B.
Medical expert Dr Sandie Bohin said Child A had been stable, and the misplaced UVC [line] "had no bearing" on his collapse.
She said Child A had received an air embolus. In cross-examination, it was suggested she could not exclude genetic causes for the death of Child A. She replied she did not know of any genetic condition that causes a baby to collapse and die within 24 hours of birth.
Mr Johnson says Letby's case "floats the spectre of possibilities" without going into specifics.

10:38am

Mr Johnson said dehydration was also ruled out as a possible cause of death for Child A.
Asked about an 'innocent air embolus' via the catheter, Dr Bohin said she had "never heard of it happening in a neonatal unit" due to the equipment used.
For Child B, Dr Bohin had said the baby was "in good shape". She concluded Child B had received an air embolus.

10:42am

Mr Johnson says the jury has an advantage over medical experts, in that they can look at all the pieces of evidence presented in the case, including Letby's Facebook searches for the parents, her presence on the unit, standing by babies, and there being a "poisoner at work" on the unit, to draw conclusions. "It's the cumulative evidence", Mr Johnson says is key.
He says Child A and Child B had similar skin discolourations, and a "concession" from Letby that "if we agree", that Child A died of an air embolus.

10:42am

Mr Johnson said Lucy Letby "migrated" to room 1 shortly before Child B's collapse, to use the word of Kathryn Percival-Ward.

 
Last edited:
  • #449






Dan O'Donoghue

@MrDanDonoghue

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC is on his feet at Manchester Crown Court as he begins day three of his closing speech in the murder trial of Lucy Letby. The nurse is accused of killing seven babies and attempting to kill a further 10 between 2015 and 2016, she denies all charges

Mr Johnson is taking the jury back over what was said in each case. He starts with Child B this morning. The girl required some resuscitation at birth but recovered quickly, she was the twin sister of Child A and collapsed on 10 June 2015, 28 hours after her brother's death.

Child B recovered and was eventually discharged a month later. Medical experts for the prosecution agreed she was subjected to "some form of sabotage" and may have been injected with air

Mr Johnson tells the jury when looking at the case of Child B to 'put all the pieces of the jigsaw together' - he says the 'the cumulative picture' is key, 'we say it's inexplicable' and says the only conclusion is Ms Letby 'tried to murder or murdered these children'
 
  • #450
Mr Johnson turns to the case of Child C.

He says Dr John Gibbs first gave evidence on Halloween 2022. He was asked if Child C should have been treated at a tertiary centre. Dr Gibbs replied it depended on what caused Child C's collapse. He denied that in any event it would have been more suitable for Child C to be treated there.

Mr Johnson says there has been no evidence presented to suggest the babies in this case would have been better treated at a tertiary unit. [The Countess of Chester Hospital being a Level 2 unit at the time].

Mr Johnson says the jury should ask if there had been any specific shortcomings for the babies in each case.

He says the babies would have been better off away from Lucy Letby. He says that may have been what Dr Gibbs meant.

10:53am

Mr Johnson says Child C, a baby boy, was "born in good condition" and "made good progress" and was "handling well".
A nursing family communication note on June 12, for 6.30pm, 'parnets spent most of the day with [Child C]...enjoyed kangaroo care most of the afternoon' - Mr Johnson says this was a good sign.
Dr Kathryn Davies was asked about traces of bile found. She was asked, in evidence, if that was a sign the baby would later collapse. She replied: "Absolutely not." Mr Johnson tells the court she said Child C's abdomen was soft, and if he had an abdominal problem, it would be sore, but he was handling well, and his other observations were stable, which was why he had been out for kangaroo care.
By June 13, 2015, Child C was given tiny milk feeds 'to get things moving' in the gut.

10:55am

"Witness after witness" gave evidence to say the bile aspirates were "very small", and the "black colour" was "altered blood", not bile. Dr Gibbs said the blood had come from inflammation in the stomach, and Child C was given a drug to treat that.
Mr Johnson says the jury know, as a fact, from Dr Andreas Marnerides, that Child C did not have a problem with his gut, as there was no sign of infection or sepsis. There was no evidence of Child C having had an obstruction in his bowel.
"This is not a case of NEC," he adds.

10:59am

Nurse Yvonne Griffiths described Child C as an active baby who was "happiest" when receiving kangaroo care, and nurse Sophie Ellis said Child C was "feisty".
Mr Johnson says all the treating staff for Child C said he was doing very well - on the three days Letby was not on the unit.
He says within a few hours of Letby coming on to the unit, Child C collapsed, and within a few hours of that collapse, died.
Mr Johnson said Dr Gibbs could not explain how Child C's heart could have restarted after the collapse, as it did not follow any natural disease process.

 
Last edited:
  • #451
Dan O'Donoghue

@MrDanDonoghue

Mr Johnson is now moving to Child C. Prosecutors said Ms Letby, who was then designated nurse for a child in nursery three, was in his nursery at the time and caused his collapse by inserting air into his stomach via a nasogastric tube. He was pronounced dead on 14 June 2015

Mr Johnson asks the jury, in each case, to consider what 'alleged failure or shortcoming' cause these children to die or collapse. He adds 'the evidence has shown these children would have been better off anywhere else other than with Lucy Letby'
 
  • #452
Just Catholic (or C of E schools possibly) though, surely? That's the case everywhere.
Catholic and CofE. They have tables where you get scored on how many times a month you go to church and for how many years. The higher the score, the better chance of getting a place. I don't understand how they get away with it in 2023!
 
  • #453
Catholic and CofE. They have tables where you get scored on how many times a month you go to church and for how many years. The higher the score, the better chance of getting a place. I don't understand how they get away with it in 2023!
It's astonishing, quite frankly!
 
  • #454
11:13am

Dr Sally Ogden said Child C's abdomen was, on June 13, soft. Mr Johnson says he was "doing well" as observations were normal and he was put on to Optiflow, having gone off CPAP breathing support.
Letby's nursing colleague suggested to Letby that the baby in room 3 was more of a priority as that baby had breathing difficulties, than Child C in room 1.
"Lucy Letby was not happy about being in nursery room 3," Mr Johnson says.
Letby texted colleague Jennifer Jones-Key: "I keep thinking about Mon. Feel like I need to be in 1 to overcome it but [colleague] said no"
"Not the vented baby necessarily, I just feel I need to be in 1 to get the image out of my head. Mel said the same and [colleague] let her go. Being in 3 is eating me up, all I can see is him in 1 x"
Mr Johnson says the baby who was not vented would be Child C.
Mr Johnson says there was no reason for Letby to be in room 1.
Letby texted Jennifer Jones-Key: "Yeah I've done couple of meds in 1. I'll be fine X"
Mr Johnson says this is something Letby has since revised in her evidence.
The neonatal schedule shows Letby being a co-signer for babies in room 3. Mr Johnson says it "stretches the definition" to suggest (there's something missing here - my note)
Mr Johnson says it was "repeatedly" questioned whether Sophie Ellis - "the new girl" as was "up to the mark" to look after Child C. Three nurses dismissed that suggestion.
Mr Johnson says in cross-examination that was taken up with Letby.
NJ: "The person who had what you wanted wasn't sufficiently qualified for the job?"
LL: "No, Sophie wasn't, I think, in the correct position to care for [Child C]."
NJ: "Why was that?"
LL: "She was recently qualified, she didn't have the skills."
LL: "She didn't have experience of premature babies, babies like [Child C]."
LL: "I am not saying Sophie caused anything with [Child C], she was just the least experienced. She had very little experience with premature babies."
NJ: "So she had something you wanted?"
LL: "No."
Mr Johnson asks the jury what Sophie Ellis failed to do that a senior nurse would have done. He says there is no evidence of anything, and asks why that suggestion was made to three nurses in cross-examination.
He says it is trying to create "something seriously wrong at the hospital" and is "gaslighting" the jury.

 
  • #455
11:19am

Mr Johnson says the series of text messages, and its content in relation to , suggests Letby was not rushed off her feet but had "death on her mind" and sabotaged Child C.
Sophie Ellis aspirated Child C's stomach and found a small amount of green bile. There was no air or anything else, Mr Johnson says. She left the room and within a short amount of time, the alarm went off.
Upon her return, Letby was standing by Child C, and Letby said words to the effect of: "He's just had a brady/desat".
Nurse Melanie Taylor was challenged "repeatedly" on her account of the event. She said she remembered Letby being "at the centre of events". She said she was "surprised how cool and calm" Letby was.
Dr Kathrine Davies was 'crash bleeped' to the room. There were no heart sounds or respiration, and this was "very unusual". She said even with the smallest, sickest babies [who had collapsed], there would be some heart beat, or respiration rate, but with Child C there was "nothing at all".
During intubation, Child C's vocal cords were seen by Dr Davies to be swollen. Mr Johnson says that is found in five of the babies' cases, in Child E, Child G, Child H and Child N.
"Somebody put something down [Child C's] throat. Who do you think that was?"

 
  • #456
Dan O'Donoghue
@MrDanDonoghue
·
Mr Johnson takes the jury back over evidence which shows that Ms Letby was assigned the care of a baby in nursery three on the night Child C collapsed. He was in nursery one on that shift

Mr Johnson says Child C was assigned to another nurse. He says 'there was no reason therefore for Lucy Letby to be in nursery one'

In text exchanges with a colleague, Ms Letby expresses frustration at not being in nursery one - she also comments on the fact Child C had been assigned to 'the new girl'

In one message, Ms Letby says she had just been in nursery one to do meds - however on the neonatal review, which records meds prescribed, Ms Letby was not in there prior to sending that message

Mr Johnson points out that Ms Letby's defence counsel, Ben Myers KC, repeatedly questioned witnesses about the 'new girl' - nurse Sophie Ellis - that Ms Letby had referred to. He says it was insinuated she was not qualified to be looking after Child C

He says all witnesses rejected this and no evidence was produced to show she was not qualified. 'It’s trying to create in the impression in your minds that something was seriously wrong with the hospital…it’s gaslighting you, doing to you what Lucy Letby did to her colleagues'

Mr Johnson reminds the jury of evidence from Ms Ellis, who said when Child C collapsed she arrived in nursery one to find Lucy Letby 'standing over' him. Another nurse, who attended, said Ms Letby was at the 'centre of events'

Mr Johnson says 'someone had put something down (Child C's) throat' and points to the back of the court - 'she’s sitting in the dock'
 
  • #457
11:25am

Dr Gibbs said if there had been an abdominal obstruction, there would have been 'repeated vomiting'.
Child C's parents had given evidence in an agreed statement, when Child C had started breathing after being baptised.
"We held him for hours...and he was given another dose of morphine."
The 'rally' of survival lasted "a long time", Mr Johnson says.
He says during the time with the family, they were interrupted by a nurse the father believed to be Letby. The father recalled the nurse said words to the effect of: "You've said your goodbyes now, do you want to put him in here?"
A nursing colleague had told Letby 'more than once' to look after her designated baby, as she had been going 'in and out' of the family room.
Mr Johnson asks why Letby had a fascination with that room, and cites her behaviour as noted in the cases of Child I and Child P.
"It is not an innocent coincidence."
He says Letby, in cross-examination, "could not give a plausible reason" why she kept going into that family room instead of looking after her designated baby that night.

 
  • #458
11:29am

Text messages between Letby and a colleague were exchanged on June 30, 2015:
Colleague: "Yeah. There's something odd about that night and the other 3 that went so suddenly."
LL: "What do you mean?
"Odd that we lost 3 and in different circumstances?"
C: I dunno. Were they that different?
C: Ignore me. I'm speculating
LL: Well Baby C was tiny, obviously compromised in utero. Baby D septic. It's Baby A I can't get my head around
C: Was she definitely septic. Did the PM confirm?
LL: I don't think the full PM is back yet. Debrief is next week but Im away.
C: When's Baby A's? They were talking of doing a joint one for all 3 as all close together and similar in being full arrests in babies that were essentially stable. Dunno if they are doing tho.
LL: Ah not sure but Baby C's is Thursday and Baby D next week
LL: No mention of Baby A"

 
  • #459
The patterns are frightening. I’ve tried to be as open minded as possible going into this trial, but all of these patterns and events point to a conclusion that I feel is inevitable.
 
  • #460
"She assaulted his abdomen, causing his liver to rupture and bleed internally, before injecting air into his stomach and circulation, blocking blood flow to his heart, he claimed.

The injury to the baby's liver has my mind running through a series of grim scenarios as to how it could have possibly happened. All of them are far more directly violent (punches?) and animalistic than the other methods mentioned in the cases. It makes shivers run down my spine.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Staff online

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
108
Guests online
2,714
Total visitors
2,822

Forum statistics

Threads
633,183
Messages
18,637,397
Members
243,435
Latest member
ElJayGee
Back
Top