What the prosecution and defence said about each child in the Lucy Letby trial
The nurse faced charges over 17 children.
Here is what the prosecution and the defence in the trial of Lucy Letby said about each of the 17 children the nurse faced charges over.
Child A, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby injected air intravenously into the bloodstream of the baby boy. The defence said Letby did no such thing and there was suboptimal care of the youngster – COUNT 1 GUILTY.
Child B, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby attempted to murder the baby girl, the twin sister of Child A, by injecting air into her bloodstream. The defence said a natural event could not be excluded due to her prematurity – COUNT 2 GUILTY.
Child C, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said Letby forced air down a feeding tube and into the stomach of the baby boy. The defence said the nurse did nothing harmful and that medics were slow to react to a number of health issues in a very poorly baby – COUNT 3 GUILTY.
Child D, allegation of murder. The Crown said air was injected intravenously into the baby girl. The defence say she may have died from infection – COUNT 4 GUILTY.
Child E, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby murdered the twin baby boy with an injection of air into the bloodstream and also deliberately caused bleeding to the infant. The defence said the evidence did not show Letby attacked Child E and he too received suboptimal care – COUNT 5 GUILTY.
Child F, allegation of attempted murder. Letby was said by prosecutors to have poisoned the twin brother of Child E with insulin. The defence said Letby was not the poisoner and did not admit the evidence established he was given manufactured insulin – COUNT 6 GUILTY.
Child H, two allegations of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby sabotaged the care of the baby girl in some way which led to two profound oxygen desaturations. The defence said elements of Child H’s care were suboptimal and there could be innocent explanations for the episodes – COUNT 10 NOT GUILTY, COUNT 11 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child I, allegation of murder. The prosecution said Letby killed the baby girl at the fourth attempt and had given her air and overfed her with milk. The defence said Letby did nothing to harm Child I, who may have had an infection and had a history of recurring oxygen desaturations and abdominal distension – COUNT 12 GUILTY.
Child J, allegation of attempted murder. No specific form of harm was identified by the prosecution but they said Letby did something to cause the collapse of the baby girl. The defence said infection could not be ruled out as the cause – COUNT 13 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child K, allegation of attempted murder. The prosecution said Letby compromised the baby girl as she deliberately dislodged a breathing tube. The defence said Child K was extremely premature and she had experienced suboptimal care – COUNT 14 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child L, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said the nurse poisoned the twin baby boy with insulin. The defence said Letby was not the poisoner and did not admit the evidence established he was given manufactured insulin – COUNT 15 GUILTY.
Child N, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby inflicted trauma in the baby boy’s throat and also injected him with air in the bloodstream. The defence said Letby committed no harmful acts and there was suboptimal care – COUNT 17 GUILTY, COUNT 18 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT, COUNT 19 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child O, allegation of murder. Prosecutors say Letby attacked the triplet boy by injecting him with air, overfeeding him with milk and inflicting trauma to his liver with “severe force”. The defence said Child O had some health issues before Letby came on shift and that CPR possibly caused the liver injury – COUNT 20 GUILTY.
Child P, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said the nurse targeted the triplet brother of Child O by overfeeding him with milk, injecting air and dislodging his breathing tube. The defence say Child P was subjected to a “catalogue of poor medical care” – COUNT 21 GUILTY.
Child Q, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby injected the baby boy with liquid, and possibly air, down his feeding tube. The defence said Letby did nothing harmful and Child Q became unwell due to a natural health issue – COUNT 22 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
