Newspaper headlines: 'NHS nurse in dock' accused of baby murders, and Ukraine bombed

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By BBC News
Staff

"The baby poisoner" headlines the Metro as it leads on the opening of the trial of nurse Lucy Letby accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 other babies at the Countess of Chester hospital. Ms Letby, 32, of Hereford, denies 22 charges at Manchester Crown Court.

The Daily Express also leads on the trial. It quotes prosecutor Nick Johnson KC describing Ms Letby as the "constant malevolent presence" in the hospital's neonatal unit.

Ms Letby is alleged to have injected seven babies she is accused of murdering with air or insulin over the course of a year, the Mirror reports. According to Mr Johnson, baby deaths at the hospital were "comparable" to others in the UK before January 2015, but this changed over the next 18 months when there was a "significant rise" in the number of babies dying or suffering serious catastrophic collapses.

The Times reports the prosecution claim the baby deaths were attributed to natural causes at first because "nobody thought there was someone trying to kill babies in the neonatal unit".

The Sun splashes with a picture of Ms Letby holding a baby. The jury has been told the trial may last up to six months. She denies 22 charges against her.

"The day death rained from the sky" writes the Daily Mail as it leads with a report from its journalist in Dnipro, Ukraine, as "in the Monday morning rush hour from hell Vladimir Putin unleashed a furious barrage of missiles". The report describes "gaping holes" in roads and roofs, and innocent people "suddenly meeting their deaths". The deadly violence across Ukraine also included strikes on Kiev, Kharkiv, Lviv and Zaporizhzhia.

The Guardian leads on Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky set to demand more military and diplomatic support from G7 leaders following the Russian missile attack. The paper says during a virtual G7 summit, Mr Zelensky will be seeking a wish list including anti-aircraft systems and will repeat the longstanding demand for longer-range missiles.

The head of GCHQ, the UK's intelligence security and cyber agency, is set to warn the Russian people are turning on the country's president over the war. The Telegraph reports Sir Jeremy Fleming in a speech is set to say it is becoming clear within Russia how Vladimir Putin has "misjudged the situation" and will say Russians forces are in a "desperate situation".

The Financial Times leads on government borrowing costs rising sharply, as the Bank of England and chancellor fail to stop a sell-off in government bonds. It comes after Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said he would fast-track his plan setting out how he will fund tax cuts and reduce debt after his mini-budget sparked market turmoil. The paper reports some senior Tories believe Mr Kwarteng will struggle to come up with a plausible medium-term reduction plan by the end of the month.

The i headlines "Truss faces showdown with rebels" as it reports the prime minister is set to confront a "divided cabinet" following a "chaotic" Conservative Party conference. The newspaper warns "unhappy Tory MPs" are preparing to challenge Ms Truss just 35 days after she took office. It quotes a senior Tory saying: "That [mini] budget gave people permission to desert. They thought 'Starmer may be boring but at least he's not mad'."

The Daily Star splashes on a picture of a pony in a pub as it reports on them offering "work from pub packages" to workers struggling with energy costs at home. It says for £10 workers can get unlimited tea, wi-fi and food. It asks: "Probably the best workplace in the world?"

The Guardian has a photograph of a bloodied and bandaged woman, being led away from the scene of a Russian missile attack in Ukraine on Monday.

It says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will "demand a significant increase in military and diplomatic support" from world leaders in response to the attacks.

Under the headline, "the day death rained from the sky", the Daily Mail leads with the account of its own reporter in one of the cities targeted, Dnipro. Ian Birrell describes a "morning rush hour from hell" as "Vladimir Putin unleashed a furious barrage of missiles" on cars, homes, offices and stations.

The Times notes that the attack came less than 48 hours after President Putin appointed a commander, described as General Armageddon, to revive what it calls the "Kremlin's faltering offensive".

The paper says the promotion of General Sergei Surovikin has delighted many hardliners in Russia, with one person describing him as the most competent commander in the Russian Army.

Many papers lead with the first day of the trial of Lucy Letby, the neonatal nurse accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill 10 more.

Pictures of her taken on maternity wards, smiling in hospitals scrubs, appear on the front of the Telegraph, the Mirror and the Sun. The Express picks up on comments by the prosecutor, Nick Johnson, who described Ms Letby as a "constant malevolent presence" at the Countess of Chester hospital. The trial at Manchester Crown Court is expected to last six months. Ms Letby denies all the charges against her.

The Financial Times reports that efforts by the Bank of England and the chancellor to calm the markets appeared to have failed as government borrowing costs soared again. It quotes an HSBC official who described the central bank's latest measures to avoid a financial cliff edge as a "sticking plaster".

The FT says some Conservatives think the Chancellor Kwarsi Kwarteng will struggle to come up with a plausible medium-term debt reduction plan by the end of this month. A former treasury minister tells the paper "the sums don't add up".

The Daily Star and the Times have both picked up on the latest post-pandemic trend - working from the pub. The Star says several pub chains have started offering packages to people who usually work from home - a tenner gets you Wi-Fi, a sandwich, bottomless tea and coffee and you do not have to pay for heating.

The Times reporter, Georgina Roberts, gives the idea a ringing endorsement but she worries about the look of Zoom calls with a background of beer bottles. A man who runs a biodegradable flip-flop company tells the Star he finds the pub less soul-destroying than his kitchen table and enjoys mixing with other pub workers.

As the paper says - probably the best workplace in the world.