Letby told police she did not dislodge baby's tube

The former nurse denies one count of attempted murder

Former nurse Lucy Letby told police she did not dislodge the breathing tube of a baby girl, a court has heard.

The 34-year-old denies the attempted murder of an infant, know as Baby K, while working a night shift at the neo-natal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital's neo-natal unit in February 2016.

A consultant paediatrician previously told Manchester Crown Court that Letby stood next the incubator "doing nothing" as Baby K's condition deteriorated.

The court was played excerpts of a police interview with Letby after her arrest, where she said "I don't remember" when asked what she was doing at the time.

The court heard excerpts of Letby's police interviews after her arrests

The prosecution said Dr Ravi Jayaram walked into the unit's intensive care nursery, less than two hours after Child K's birth, and saw Letby "not intervening" as the infant's blood oxgyen levels dipped but no monitor alarms sounded.

It has been alleged the infant's breathing tube was dislodged by the nurse.

Letby was interviewed by detectives after she was arrested at her home in Chester, in July 2018 and then subsequent arrests at her family home in Hereford in June 2019 and November 2020, the court heard.

The jury was played excerpts of the video interviews with Cheshire Constabulary.

'Don't remember'

In a 2019 interview, Letby told police she did not remember being stood next the incubator and did not recall whether there were any alarms sounding when Baby K's condition worsened.

She said she would have expected the alarms to activate if the infant deteriorated.

Det Sgt Stonier said: "Explain to me what you were doing when Dr Jayaram walked into the nursery at this point?"

Letby said: "I don't recall."

The detective said Dr Jayaram's evidence was that the monitor was show a drop in the infant's oxygen saturation, which was continuing to fall, while the alarm was not sounding.

"I don't know why the monitor wasn't sounding", Letby said.

Det Sgt Stonier said: "Did you turn the monitor off, Lucy?"

"No," said Letby, who also denied deactivating the sound on the monitor when pressed by the detective.

The officer put to Letby that Dr Jayaram said Baby K's breathing tube had been dislodged, and confirms the child had "suffered an event when you were the only one in the room".

Letby said: "I didn't dislodge the tube".

She said she would have called for help if she noticed Baby K's decline or that the tube had slipped, which she said she does not recall seeing.

The detective said: "He established the tube had dislodged 30 to 60 seconds before he entered the room, why did you not call for help the moment it became dislodged?"

The detective said: "His evidence suggests you would have had at least 30 seconds to react to the tube and it's quite clear you didn't, why didn't you help (Baby K)?"

Letby replied: "I don't remember the incident."

The jury of six men and six women has been told Letby was convicted at a trial last year of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six other infants at the Countess of Chester between June 2015 and June 2016.

The defence case starts on Monday.