Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: Crime, Lucy Letby
Jess Battison
Lucy Letby has been found guilty of trying to kill an 'extremely premature' baby.
This follows the killer nurse's conviction at Manchester Crown Court last August for the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neo-natal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.
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However, a verdict on the allegation concerning a baby girl, known as Child K, could not be reached and a retrial at the same court was ordered on that single count.
And this afternoon (2 July), Letby was convicted by the fresh jury of trying to murder the 'very premature' infant by dislodging her breathing tube in the early hours of 17 February 2016.
The baby weighed only 692g and had been born at just 25 weeks’ gestation. Child K had been moved from the delivery room to the neo-natal unit not long after birth, where Letby targeted the youngster.
Having been alive for only 90 minutes, the nurse deliberately dislodged the baby girl's breathing tube through which she was being ventilated with air and oxygen.
Letby was seen by consultant paediatrician Dr Ravi Jayaram who went on to resuscitate Child K after entering the intensive care unit room.
Speaking to the jurors, Dr Jayaram said he had seen 'no evidence' that Letby had done anything to help the infant.
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He said he hadn't heard her call for help, or witnessed any alarms sounding as the baby rapidly deteriorated.
In response, Letby told the jury she didn't have any recollection of the incident, denied that she had harmed Child K and added that she had not committed any of the offences she had been convicted of.
Prosecutors also claimed that Letby had interfered with the baby's breathing tube on two occasions during her shift to try and make it seem as though Child K had been displacing her own tube. Letby also denied this.
The baby was later transferred to another, specialist hospital on 17 February, but sadly died.
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No post-mortem examination was carried out and the cause of death was recorded as extreme prematurity and severe respiratory distress syndrome.
Two years on from Child K's death, and the court heard how Letby had searched for the baby's surname on Facebook.
Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC told the jury: “The truth is that Lucy Letby had a fascination with the babies she had murdered and attempted to murder, and with their families. She took pleasure in her murderous handiwork.”
Earlier this year, Letby lost her Court of Appeal bid to challenge her convictions.
There will now be a public inquiry into how the nurse was able to commit the crimes. This will begin at Liverpool Town Hall on 10 September.