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Neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, 33, who is accused of murdering seven babies breaks down in tears as paediatric consultant gives evidence at murder trial
- Lucy Letby stood up and walked to the door leading to cells in Manchester court
- She appeared upset as a paediatric consultant gave evidence in her murder trial
- Letby, 33, denies murdering seven babies and attempting to murder ten others
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A nurse accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill a further ten broke down in tears today as a paediatric consultant gave evidence.
Lucy Letby, 33, was visibly upset and even appeared to try to leave the courtroom as she stood in the dock and walked swiftly to the door leading to the cells.
A female security officer approached her for a hushed conversation.
Letby took a few moments to compose herself before returning to the seat she has occupied throughout her 16-week trial at Manchester Crown Court.
Lucy Letby, 33, stood up in the glass-panelled dock and walked swiftly to the door leading to the cells at Manchester Crown Court
Letby took a few moments to compose herself before returning to her seat
The nurse’s emotional outburst came as the paediatrician, who cannot be named for legal reasons, began to give evidence from behind a privacy screen that gave him no view of the dock.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Goss, saw the drama unfold in front of him and asked a defence solicitor to ‘just see what the problem is’.
A male lawyer walked the few feet to the dock and spoke briefly to Letby through the glass screen.
Moments later the defendant’s barrister, Ben Myers KC, had his own conversation with her.
Letby was still wiping tears from her eyes, this time with tissues from a box beside her, as the proceedings resumed.
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She also took a few sips of water from a paper cup.
The consultant was asked for a second time to confirm his name and occupation. His evidence lasted only a few minutes as he took Philip Astbury, prosecuting, through some medical notes relating to Baby L, one of a set of twins, whom Letby is alleged to have injected with insulin.
The consultant told the court the child’s blood sugar levels were decreasing during the night shift and were ‘lower than what I would have wanted’.
When asked why it was necessary to stop the levels falling, he said: ‘Because low blood glucose levels in a baby can cause seizures.
‘It’s damaging to a baby. It it falls to a much lower level, then it can cause liver damage and brain injury’.
Letby, originally from Hereford, denies all the charges against her
The trial is currently in its 16th week at Manchester Crown Court (pictured)
The court heard that Baby L went on to make a full recovery and was discharged the following month.
Mr Myers rose to say that he had no questions to ask in cross-examination.
Later, Dr John Gibbs, the lead paediatrician on the unit at the time, told the court blood tests carried out on Baby L confirmed he had been ‘given insulin that he should not have received’.
He added: ‘I was not thinking at the time that someone might have administered insulin. The results showed that, but unfortunately the junior doctors who read them didn’t realise the significance’.
Letby, originally from Hereford, denies all the charges against her.
