‘This is my 2nd,’ nurse cried after infant collapsed

A NURSE accused of killing seven babies broke down after one of her alleged victims collapsed, telling a doctor it was ‘my second baby this has happened to’, a court heard.

Lucy Letby, 32, made the comment when a girl admitted to her neo-natal unit with a suspected infection stopped breathing.

Prosecutors allege that the infant, referred to as Baby D, was the third murdered by Letby and the fourth she attacked during a fortnight in June 2015 at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Dr Emily Thomas was on the unit when Letby called for help after Baby D collapsed at 3.55am on June 22, Manchester Crown Court heard yesterday.

She said Letby was ‘very upset’, adding: ‘She said, “This is my second baby that this has happened to”.’

The medic said she thought Letby was the designated nurse for a second child, Baby A, a twin boy allegedly murdered a fortnight earlier. His sister,

Baby B, survived being attacked by the nurse the following day and was still being cared for on the unit, it is claimed. Another boy, Baby C, was also allegedly murdered by Letby on a night shift on June 14. She denies the charges.

Dr Sarah Rylance, a registrar who cared for Baby D on the day shift before she died, told the court that Baby D was ‘stable’ on handover to the night staff. ‘She was receiving a very minimal level of breathing support,’ Dr Rylance said. ‘ She was responsive, making good progress and had responded well to treatment since she had been admitted to neonatal about 24 hours earlier.

‘She was not a healthy baby and still required some of respiratory support, but much less. I was happy with her progress.’

But Baby D collapsed three times in the night and stopped breathing on the final occasion. Letby, of Hereford, denies murdering seven babies and the attempted murders of ten others between June 2015 and June 2016.

The case continues.