London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jan 14, 2026

Lucy Letby trial: Nurse moved to risk office after baby deaths, jury told

Lucy Letby trial: Nurse moved to risk office after baby deaths, jury told

Nurse Lucy Letby was given a role in a hospital's risk and patient safety office after doctors raised concerns over her alleged involvement in baby deaths, a court has heard.

Senior doctors at the Countess of Chester Hospital requested Ms Letby be taken off front-line duties after the deaths of two triplets in June 2016.

Ms Letby has been accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others between 2015 and 2016.

The 33-year-old denies all charges.

Manchester Crown Court has previously heard that following the death of one of the babies, named as Child P for legal reasons, on 24 June 2016, senior paediatrician Dr Stephen Brearey told a hospital executive he was "not happy" with Ms Letby continuing to work on the neonatal unit.

Dr Brearey told the court that Karen Rees, the duty executive senior nurse, had informed him there was "no evidence" for his claims and Ms Letby, originally from Hereford, would be remaining in her role.

The day after Dr Brearey had his request refused, another baby, Child Q, collapsed and required resuscitation.

Prosecutors have alleged that on the morning of 25 June, Ms Letby injected air and fluid into the boy's stomach via a nasogastric tube in an attempt to kill him.

The court was told that in the weeks that followed Child Q's collapse, Ms Letby was taken off front-line duties and placed on a three-month "secondment" to the hospital's risk and patient safety office.

The jury heard she was also told that as part of a unit-wide review, she would be placed under "clinical supervision".

Eirian Powell, who was the neonatal manager, said in an email to all neonatal unit staff that the review and supervision was "not meant to be a blame or competency issue" but "a way forward to ensure our practice is safe".

In a message to a colleague, Ms Letby said she was "fuming" about being placed on secondment and commented that the email announcing the move "makes it sound like it's my choice".

In messages to another nursing colleague, Ms Letby said she had made a "timeline" of events on the unit, adding: "Hoping to get as much info together as possible - if they have nothing or minimal on me, they'll look silly, not me."

The court was also shown messages Ms Letby sent to a doctor after being told her shifts would be changing.

In the messages, she said she was having a "meltdown" and was "completely overwhelmed" with worry about why she was being moved.

The doctor attempted to reassure her and told her that in relation to the care of the triplets, she had done a "perfect job".

The court heard on 1 September, Ms Letby attended a meeting with a review panel and six days later, she registered a grievance procedure.

The nurse is accused of carrying out the attacks at Countess of Chester Hospital


The court earlier heard how Ms Letby told police it was a "coincidence" that Child Q, her final alleged victim, collapsed while he was in her care.

Manchester Crown Court has heard how Child Q was "stable" on the evening before his collapse.

Jurors heard that the infant deteriorated and needed breathing support shortly after 09:00 on 25 June.

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC, reading a summary of Ms Letby's police interview, said the nurse denied causing the boy any harm.

He said Ms Letby accepted that Child Q collapsed "within minutes of her leaving nursery two [but] she said he was stable when she left and [that she] wouldn't have left him if that was not the case".

Mr Johnson said she "denied deliberately leaving the room to blame other staff" for Child Q's collapse.

He said Ms Letby also denied injecting air or fluid into Child Q's NG tube and said it was a "coincidence he became unwell when she came on duty".

"She noted premature babies could deteriorate at any time," he added.

The trial continues.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Intensifies Arctic Security Engagement as Trump’s Greenland Rhetoric Fuels Allied Concern
Meghan Markle Could Return to the UK for the First Time in Nearly Four Years If Security Is Secured
Meghan Markle Likely to Return to UK Only if Harry Secures Official Security Cover
UAE Restricts Funding for Emiratis to Study in UK Amid Fears Over Muslim Brotherhood Influence
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks to Safeguard Long-Term Agreement Stability
Starmer’s Push to Rally Support for Action Against Elon Musk’s X Faces Setback as Canada Shuns Ban
UK Free School Meals Expansion Faces Political and Budgetary Delays
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks With Britain
Germany Hit by Major Airport Strikes Disrupting European Travel
Prince Harry Seeks King Charles’ Support to Open Invictus Games on UK Return
Washington Holds Back as Britain and France Signal Willingness to Deploy Troops in Postwar Ukraine
Elon Musk Accuses UK Government of Suppressing Free Speech as X Faces Potential Ban Over AI-Generated Content
Russia Deploys Hypersonic Missile in Strike on Ukraine
OpenAI and SoftBank Commit One Billion Dollars to Energy and Data Centre Supplier
UK Prime Minister Starmer Reaffirms Support for Danish Sovereignty Over Greenland Amid U.S. Pressure
UK Support Bolsters U.S. Seizure of Russian-Flagged Tanker Marinera in Atlantic Strike on Sanctions Evasion
The Claim That Maduro’s Capture and Trial Violate International Law Is Either Legally Illiterate—or Deliberately Deceptive
UK Data Watchdog Probes Elon Musk’s X Over AI-Generated Grok Images Amid Surge in Non-Consensual Outputs
Prince Harry to Return to UK for Court Hearing Without Plans to Meet King Charles III
UK Confirms Support for US Seizure of Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker in North Atlantic
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
UK and France Pledge Military Hubs Across Ukraine in Post-Ceasefire Security Plan
Prince Harry Poised to Regain UK Security Cover, Clearing Way for Family Visits
UK Junk Food Advertising Ban Faces Major Loophole Allowing Brand-Only Promotions
Maduro’s Arrest Without The Hague Tests International Law—and Trump’s Willingness to Break It
German Intelligence Secretly Intercepted Obama’s Air Force One Communications
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
Fake Mainstream Media Double Standard: Elon Musk Versus Mamdani
HSBC Leads 2026 Mortgage Rate Cuts as UK Lending Costs Ease
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela
Starmer Welcomes End of Maduro Era While Stressing International Law and UK Non-Involvement
Korean Beauty Turns Viral Skincare Into a Global Export Engine
UK Confirms Non-Involvement in U.S. Military Action Against Venezuela
UK Terror Watchdog Calls for Australian-Style Social Media Ban to Protect Teenagers
Iranian Protests Intensify as Another Revolutionary Guard Member Is Killed and Khamenei Blames the West
Delta Force Identified as Unit Behind U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s President
Europe’s Luxury Sanctions Punish Russian Consumers While a Sanctions-Circumvention Industry Thrives
Berkshire’s Buffett-to-Abel Transition Tests Whether a One-Man Trust Model Can Survive as a System
Fraud in European Central Bank: Lagarde’s Hidden Pay Premium Exposes a Transparency Crisis at the European Central Bank
Trump Announces U.S. Large-Scale Strike on Venezuela, Declares President Maduro and Wife Captured
Tesla Loses EV Crown to China’s BYD After Annual Deliveries Decline in 2025
UK Manufacturing Growth Reaches 15-Month Peak as Output and Orders Improve in December
Beijing Threatened to Scrap UK–China Trade Talks After British Minister’s Taiwan Visit
Newly Released Files Reveal Tony Blair Pressured Officials Over Iraq Death Case Involving UK Soldiers
Top Stocks and Themes to Watch in 2026 as Markets Enter New Year with Fresh Momentum
No UK Curfew Ordered as Deepfake TikTok Falsely Attributes Decree to Prime Minister Starmer
Europe’s Largest Defence Groups Set to Return Nearly Five Billion Dollars to Shareholders in Twenty Twenty-Five
Abu Dhabi ‘Capital of Capital’: How Abu Dhabi Rose as a Sovereign Wealth Power
Diamonds Are Powering a New Quantum Revolution
Trump Threatens Strikes Against Iran if Nuclear Programme Is Restarted
×