Nurse Lucy Letby deliberately misled jury, prosecutor says

Lucy Letby, 33, is accused of murdering babies on a neo-natal ward

Nurse Lucy Letby has "deliberately misled" the jury on a number of occasions throughout her murder trial, a prosecutor has told a court.

On the final day of cross-examination, prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said Ms Letby was a "very calculating woman" who had lied "to try and get sympathy".

The 33-year-old is charged with murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.

She has denied all charges against her.

Questioning the former nurse for a tenth day at Manchester Crown Court, Mr Johnson focused on the events following Ms Letby's removal from the neonatal unit in July 2016.

Jurors have previously heard that Ms Letby was moved to the Countess of Chester Hospital's "risk and patient safety office" after doctors raised concerns over her alleged involvement in baby deaths.

Senior doctors at the hospital requested Ms Letby be taken off front-line duties after the deaths of triplet brothers, known to the court as Child O and P for legal reasons, in June 2016.

Asked about arrest

Ms Letby was placed on a three-month "secondment" to the office and told she would be placed under "clinical supervision".

When she was arrested in July 2018, she told police she felt "panicked" and "overwhelmed" and had suicidal thoughts following the move.

She also previously told her trial she was only permitted to speak to a select few members of staff at the hospital during the period.

Mr Johnson said that claim was not correct and showed the court Facebook and phone records that were "peppered with [Ms Letby] socialising with lots of different people from that unit".

She agreed with his assertion that she had had "a very active social life", but denied his subsequent claim that she had "deliberately misled the jury about this background".

Lucy Letby is charged with murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others at the Countess of Chester Hospital

He then asked her about her arrest, which he said she had claimed saw her being led away from her home in a nightgown.

He said Ms Letby was actually wearing a blue Lee Cooper leisure suit at the time.

She said she did not know why she had lied about that detail.

"You're a very calculating woman, aren't you, Lucy Letby?" Mr Johnson said.

"You tell lies deliberately and the reason you tell lies is to get sympathy and attention from people."

"No," she replied.

The prosecutor then asked Ms Letby about various notes which were found in her home when police searched it in 2018 and in particular, about one on which she had written that she would never marry or have children.

He asked her why she wrote this when she had "a house, a car [and] a boyfriend".

She agreed had those things, but added: "That's how I felt at the time."

"You felt like this because you knew you had killed and grievously injured these children," Mr Johnson said.

"That is the truth, you have murdered these children."

"I have never murdered a child or harmed any of them," she replied.

Lucy Letby claimed that hospital bosses had conspired against her to cover up shortcomings on the neonatal unit

He also asked the former nurse about social media searches which were made to find the parents of the children involved in the case.

She has previously said searching for people on Facebook was "a normal pattern of behaviour for me" and was not confined to those parents.

Mr Johnson repeatedly pressed Ms Letby to explain why she had searched for certain parents, adding that she was "a killer who was looking at your victims".

She denied that accusation, adding that the people had been "on my mind".

The former nurse was also asked about her claim that hospital bosses had conspired against her to cover up shortcomings on the neonatal unit.

She has previously told her trial that a "gang of four" doctors apportioned "blame" on to her "to cover up failings at the hospital".

Mr Johnson asked what the conspiracy between the four was.

"I believe there were shortcomings from the medical team and they put that on me," she said.

The trial continues.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]