Lucy Letby: Murder-accused nurse keen to work overtime, jury told

Lucy Letby is accused of murdering seven babies and trying to kill 10 others

Nurse Lucy Letby was "wanting" to work extra shifts when she allegedly tried to murder a baby, her trial has heard.

The nurse is accused of trying to kill the premature girl three times before murdering her on the fourth attempt.

Manchester Crown Court heard Ms Letby first tried to kill Child I, who cannot be named, while working on a day shift on 30 September 2015.

The 33-year-old denies murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others at Countess of Chester Hospital.

In a statement read to the court, a colleague of Ms Letby, who also cannot be named, confirmed she had been working on the night shift on that day.

She said: "At the time we were talking about we had massive staffing issues where people were coming in and doing extra shifts.

"It was mainly Lucy that did a lot as she was one of only three band five nurses that had done the neonatal course at that time.

"Lucy was young, living in halls in the doctors' residential, saving to buy a house, she was single, able to swap, willing and wanting to do extras."

Child I was being cared for on the neonatal ward at Countess of Chester Hospital

The jury heard how on the afternoon of 30 September, Child I required breathing assistance from nursing staff via a face mask, after she had a large vomit and her blood oxygen levels and heart rate plummeted.

Ms Letby, who was Child I's designated nurse on the shift, handed over her care to night-shift nurse Bernadette Butterworth in the early evening, when the baby deteriorated once more.

The oxygen face mask was used again, but no chest wall movement was detected, the court heard.

Ms Butterworth noted Child I's swollen tummy and asked Ms Letby to aspirate her nasogastric feeding tube, which obtained a "fair amount of air" and 2ml of milk.

'Extreme immaturity'

She said the girl "settled down [and] came back to normal, her heart rate and respiratory rate".

Doctors suspected a bowel problem as they prescribed antibiotics and ordered blood tests and X-rays.

The prosecution has alleged that Ms Letby, of Hereford, struck again in the early hours of night shifts on 12 and 13 October before her final successful attempt later that month..

It has also been alleged she harmed the youngster by either injecting air into her feeding tube and bloodstream or by overfeeding her with milk.

The defence has said Child I's clinical problems "may have been inevitable given her extreme immaturity".

The trial continues.

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