A British court heard how a neonatal nurse allegedly tried three times to kill a baby born prematurely in June 2016.
According to iTV, Lucy Letby, 33, hugged the baby’s mother after the first murder attempt. The baby boy has hemophilia and was born weighing 3 pounds, 11 ounces, and Letby allegedly tried to kill him once on June 3 and twice on June 15.
The victim’s father claimed he got a call from Letby the same day his son was due to be discharged from the neonatal unit, where he spent 13 days. Letby told the father that his son was “unwell” but is doing better now, iTV reported.
Letby reportedly did not give the father many details but, 10 minutes later, the baby’s mother got a phone call urging them to come to the hospital. Letby was said to be at the baby’s bedside when they arrived. The father said his son’s skin was blue and blood was around his lips.
“She told us she’d stayed on late past the end of her shift and she said to (my partner), ‘I hope he’s OK’ and gave my partner a hug,” the father stated per iTV.
Authorities claimed Letby first tried to kill the baby less than 24 hours after he was born. The baby’s mother claimed that, at some point, Letby recommended they have their son baptized.
Between 2015 and 2016, Letby allegedly killed seven babies and injured 10 more while working at Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit. She has denied claims that she injected air into the victims’ bloodstream and gave them insulin.
Previous testimony also linked Letby to the slaying of a 1.7-pound baby who reportedly had air forced into his stomach via a nasogastric tube. An expert testified that the boy was thriving at the time of his sudden death. The expert stated that he was “potentially at risk of complications” after birth, and he was receiving routine treatment for pneumonia.
However, the expert concluded that pneumonia did not kill the newborn.
A pediatric consultant had testified that he stopped Letby from killing a 98-minute-old baby, who was also born prematurely. The consultant reportedly caught Letby standing over the incubator as the baby’s oxygen levels plummeted. The consultant allegedly found the baby’s breathing tube was dislodged and that an alarm had been silenced.
Letby reportedly did not help the baby or seek backup. The consultant said he was already uneasy with Letby being alone with the preemie as he “started to notice a coincidence between unexplained deaths, serious collapses,” and Letby’s presence.
The trial continues.
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[Featured image: Police handout]
