UK - Nurse Lucy Letby Faces 22 Charges - 7 Murder/15 Attempted Murder of Babies #5

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

11:03am

The mother was taken to a further room, and it was there where she had physical contact with Child D.
Her impression of Child D condition at that point was "really worried as she [was brought to my chest] but she didn't have any movement, she looked limp and pale - struggled to breathe and was making a groaning noise.
"She wasn't really responsive. There was a split-second where she opened her eyes and looked at me, and then no response.
"I tried to breastfeed her, but she was completely limp, so I was worried."
A male paediatrician informed the mother 'not to worry' as the delivery had been through C-section so the breathing wasn't as clear.
The mother said she didn't believe what he said. His attitude seemed "too careless".

11:04am
The mother said she thought something was wrong with Child D and one of the midwives would assess her in 'a couple of hours'.
She said she did not want to wait that long and wanted another doctor's opinion.
The same doctor came back, but he had spoken to a consultant.
The mother said she was "not reassured" but "was glad someone took me seriously". She was then worried as Child D was taken straight to neonatal unit intensive care.

 

[Stumpyaura]

11:06am

The mother said she felt "rubbish...drained" and didn't feel any relief. She was "in pain" and "knackered".
The mother said it was around 7-8pm when she was separated from Child D.

11:08am

The following day was Father's Day.
The mother was given news that Child D had been "up and down" all night, struggling with feeding, and staff "didn't seem too concerned then", but Child D "wasn't great".
The mother believed she had been spoken to by a female consultant doctor that morning.


LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

 

[Music2022]

Shocking. My water broke and I was only given 24 hours for labour to start before coming in for antibiotics and an induction, and that was in an nhs hospital locally known as not a very good one with poor maternity services. Leaving mother D for 50 hours is unbelievable.

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

11:10am

The mother said she recalled Child D needed to be on a CPAP machine and every time they tried to take her off she would crash.
She said staff did not seem overly concerned as Child D was a good-size baby and making progress, despite being 'poorly'.
Other tests showed she seemed 'fine'.
The mother said she was able to see Child D at about 7pm that day.

11:14am

The mother said she had spoken to a doctor before heading to the neonatal unit.
A drawing that the mother had made, showing a plan of the neonatal unit room, is shown to the court, showing the positioning of Child D's cot, other cots, and crosses identifying a number of medical machinery.

11:16am

Child D's mother said she had spoken to Dr Andrew Brunton at 9-9.30pm, and was told he was "very happy" with Child D's test results.
They had "done more scans" and she was "well" and promised her she would be able to hold and cuddle her the following day.
The mother said she was not in a good condition herself, being moved in a wheelchair and '10/10 pain', on morphine, but was happy with Child D.
Child D looked like "a good pink baby", "tiny but chubby", and looked "healthy".

 

[Stumpyaura]

11:18am

The next time she saw Dr Brunton was the following night.
She and her husband were woken up 'about 4am' by a nurse to 'come quickly' as Child D was poorly.
They "rished downstairs" and Dr Brunton was "holding her" and trying "really hard" to resuscitate her.

11:19am

"We were just standing there looking at [Child D] dying."
The doctor was "quite agitated" and the couple heard they "had to let [Child D] go."
The mother said she could not stay there any more and asked to be taken away.

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3


11:22am

A nurse, who the mother believed to be Lucy Letby, was holding a phone to Dr Brunton's ear, she recalled.
The mother said she had seen Lucy Letby before, when she went to see Child D in the neonatal unit at about 7pm.
The mother recalls as she was wheeled into the room, Lucy Letby was "hovering around, not doing much" with Child D, and had a clipboard, and was looking at the machinery.
"I didn't understand what she was doing", and the mother asked if Child D was fine, to which Lucy Letby said she was.
Lucy Letby "just stuck around" and was "just watching, looking over us".
The mother said she asked for Lucy Letby to "just go away and leave us [in privacy]."

11:25am

Mr Johnson asks if Lucy Letby was in the neonatal unit room at the time Child D died. The mother agrees, and says other doctors were in that room.
The mother says she did not stay in that room.
The mother recalls she was taken to a private room, where Child D was, along with her husband and another family member, and a nurse she had not seen before.
The mother said she did not see Lucy Letby again.

 

[WaxLyrical]

Shocking. My water broke and I was only given 24 hours for labour to start before coming in for antibiotics and an induction, and that was in an nhs hospital locally known as not a very good one with poor maternity services. Leaving mother D for 50 hours is unbelievable.

I just did a quick calculation and I was put on pitocin 45hrs after my waters broke, and started dilating approx 54hrs after waters broke. Didn’t receive antibiotics either.

Having said that, I felt monitored and cared for throughout and felt the baby was safe and we were both in good hands. A very different experience to this mum.

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

11:25am

Ben Myers KC, for the defence, is now asking the mother questions.

11:28am

Mr Myers says it is an "awful experience" what the mother went through, and says he has one or two questions to ask.
He asks about the 7pm neonatal unit visit on June 21.
The mother says she went there with her husband. She recalls 7pm as she 'must have looked at the clock'.
She said there was "an exchange of few words" between her and Lucy Letby.
Mr Myers asks if that was possibly another nurse. The mother replies: "I don't think so."
The judge, Mr Justice Goss, asks for clarification.
The mother said she would not have known the name of Lucy Letby at the time, but would after seeing her picture after she had been arrested.

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

11:31am

The court is now hearing an agreed evidence statement from the father of Child D.
The court hears, from the statement, Child D died at 4.25am on Monday, June 22.
He said he does not remember any specific problems from the mother's pregnancy, but had "immediate concerns" when she was born, as she "appeared grey" and was not crying.
"Initially, we were reassured by the staff" - and he said he believed them, and never thought Child D would die in the circumstances she did.

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

11:34am

The father recalls the circumstances leading up to the birth, as recalled by the mother.
He recalled the mother did not respond to inducement measures, and had mild contractions between 2am-3am on June 20, but had not dilated.
She was "encouraged to wait" for inducement methods, but she "did not want to" as she had been in labour for some time.
They were told medical staff were "monitoring the situation" and were told antibiotics were "not necessary" at this stage.
They said they agreed on a C-section, and at about 4pm, the mother went for an emergency C-section.

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

11:39am

Child D was held above the sheet, momentarily, and wrapped up, taken to the scales.
"We weren't informed of any issues" - "I was led to believe everything was ok".
He said Child D was very quiet, which was unexpected, and held her in his arms.
He said he was not sure if Child D was given any breathing support at this stage.
He went back to the ward with Child D for a brief time, and he and the mother put pyjamas on her. However "she didn't seem interested in feeding at all".
They said they were told Child D was doing well.
"We repeatedly asked if she was ok. We just weren't comfortable with how she was."
Medical staff kept telling her Child D was ok.
A few hours later, a different paediatrician came and Child D was taken to the neonatal unit.
The parents were later told Child D was not well.
"It was a bit of a shock" when the father saw Child D in the neonatal unit, as she was "very poorly...wasn't feeding...and had lots of tubes in her mouth".
Nursing staff "always made" the father feel welcome when he arrived.

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

11:41am

On June 21, the father went to see Child D and was "almost certain" he saw she had been taken off CPAP.
He said he frequently visited the neonatal unit, and asked staff
"It was Father's Day, and I was given a handmade father's Day card.
"The staff had put it together, and it had a message from [Child D] - with a photo stuck inside.
"On the first photo, she has CPAP. I took that with me.
"Later that day, I was given a welcome card, and a photo which showed her looking better, and not on CPAP."

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

11:46am

In the early hours of June 22, he was woken by a nurse and to go to the neonatal unit as Child D was "poorly", and they were taken there quickly.
"When we walked in, we understood immediately it was a very serious situation.
"Andrew, the senior doctor, seemed to be in charge.
"I remember someone mentioning adrenaline, and there was a sense of urgency.
"Andrew had a phone held up to him, and he was discussing the situation with someone on the other end.
"There seemed to be some confusion over what baby they were talking about.
"The person on the other end seemed to be referring to a different child.
"They were unsuccessful in resuscitating [Child D]. they said they had been trying to resuscitate [Child D] for over 20 minutes.
"I couldn't tell you which staff were in...as I wasn't paying much attention. I didn't want to look."
He added the parents weren't in the room for too long, about five minutes.
He said he does not recall seeing Lucy Letby at this time.
He went back to the ward and informed another family member of the news.

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

11:47am

A statement from another family member of Child D is read out to the court.
They said they had visited Child D in the neonatal unit: "It didn't even cross my mind that she was in danger of dying.
"When she died, we just weren't prepared for it.
"Nothing I saw appeared out of the ordinary...but I didn't have anything to compare their actions to."

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

12:05pm

The court has had a short adjournment.
It will next hear, from the prosecution, the sequence of events.
As has been the case for Child A, Child B and Child C, the evidence has been presented to the jury electronically on iPads.

12:06pm

Intelligence analyst Kate Tyndall has returned to give evidence and give a walkthrough to the jury on the evidence 'tiles' in the electronic bundle.

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

12:10pm

The first evidence shown to the court is Lucy Letby's shift patterns for June 2015.
It shows which days Letby was on 'long day' shifts, and 'night' shifts.
She worked long day shifts on June 2, 4, 17, 19, 27 and 28.
She worked night shifts on June 8, 9, 13, 14, 21, 22 and 23.
Child A died on the night of June 8-9, and Child B had a non-fatal collapse on June 9-10.
Child C died on the night of June 13-14.
Child D died on the night of June 21-22.

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

12:12pm

The evidence shown to the court shows Child D was born at 4.01pm on June 20, weighing 3.13kg, and required breathing support at birth.
The Apgar scores were 8 [out of 10] at 1 minute after birth, and 9 at 5 minutes.

12:14pm

Child D was admitted to the neonatal unit at 7.30pm on June 20 'for respiratory support requiring ventilation'.
Child D was 'grunting' and her colour was 'dusky', it was observed.

 

[merrypason]

It does feel tragic that so many of the parents have had negative experiences with her. Child D's mum too. All with very different interactions as well, so I can't believe every single one of them has made up this level of detail. It just never looks good if the actual victims have nothing positive to say about you, how much you helped and supported them, or how you reassured them etc. Also looks worse that she herself doesn't recall her interactions with them, even when they were grieving visibly. Just demonstrates a coldness and lack of self awareness that doesn't work in a neo natal nursing unit.

It really makes me question why it was her childhood dream to be a nurse if she knows she's not the most caring/empathetic. And why then go into the neo natal unit when she has complained doing feeds is boring and not stimulating enough, and doesn't connect well with the parents in difficult situations. There must be other nursing disciplines better suited to her.

 

[Stumpyaura]

LIVE: Lucy Letby trial, Thursday, November 3

12:21pm

Child D was placed on CPAP, with 40% oxygen support, and placed on 'double phototherapy'.
Doctor Ahmed Chowdhury noted discussing Child D with the parents, saying 'on moving baby to labour ward baby became blue/dusky. Sats 47% on arrival NNU - had bagging, sats picked up. Given antibiotics, baby put on CPAP. Not explained to parents yet'.

12:24pm

Notes record the administration of antibiotics and sodium chloride to Child D.
The court hears phototherapy was crried out to treat Child D's jaundice.

 

[MsBetsy]

How does one recognise 3 deaths, as being similar, but still not speak up? Baffling.

Maybe they did. They at least discussed it amongst themselves, apparently. But if Doctors were perplexed about the sudden collapses, the mottling appearance and the unusual difficulty in rescusitating the babies, I wouldn’t expect a nurse to either.