Lucy Letby: Mum prayed for baby after collapse, trial told

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

The mother of one of nurse Lucy Letby's alleged victims has told a court she was "calling on my god" to save him after he suffered a sudden collapse.

Manchester Crown Court heard Ms Letby tried to kill twin boys, named as Baby L and Baby M for legal reasons, on the same day at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2016.

The boys' mother said she "never got an explanation" why Baby M deteriorated.

She denies murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others.

The court was told Ms Letby allegedly tried to kill Baby L the day after his birth in April 2016 by injecting him with insulin, before later injecting his brother Baby M with air.

In a statement read to the court, the boys' mother said she and her husband were called to the neonatal unit urgently and arrived to find doctors performing chest compressions on Baby M.

"I was calling on my god to save him," she said.

"My mind was blank other than praying to my god."

The babies were being cared for on the neonatal ward at Countess of Chester Hospital

She said her husband was crying and a nurse told them Baby M had been well the day before and they did not know why he collapsed.

"We never got an explanation why it happened," she said.

The jury heard the twins were born at 33 weeks and two days' gestation and that shortly after birth, Baby L was prescribed glucose after being found to have low blood sugar levels.

The court was told Ms Letby allegedly tried to murder the boys the day after they were born, when she was on shift but was not their designated nurse.

Prosecutors said a blood sample from Baby L, which was taken at 15:35 showed a very high reading for insulin.

They said the sample results were not available until five days after it was taken, but the level recorded was at the upper limit of the capacity of the laboratory machine used to measure it.

The jury also heard Ms Letby, who is originally from Hereford, exchanged messages with colleagues throughout the day about her move into a new house in Chester.

She told one colleague it felt "a bit weird, having a whole house, but it's good", and wrote to another that she had "got a magnum of Prosecco and vodka" for when they visited.

The trial continues.