London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

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
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×