Jury start deliberations in Lucy Letby baby murder trial

The jury in the trial of a nurse accused of murdering babies on a Chester neo-natal unit has begun their deliberations.

Lucy Letby, who worked as a nurse at the Countess of Chester hospital, has been on trial for over nine months accused of seven counts of murder and fifteen counts of attempted murder.

The jury of four men and eight women now has the task of deciding if Letby is guilty or not guilty of the counts which relate to seventeen different children who were treated at the hospital's neo-natal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.

For the past week, the trial Judge Mr Justice James Goss, has been giving jurors a summary of all the evidence they have heard over the course of the trial which started last October.

The prosecution alleged she was "a constant and malevolent presence" who was the "common dominator" when the seventeen babies either died or became seriously ill whilst on the ward.

She's accused of poisoning babies with insulin, injecting air into their bloodstreams and intentionally overfeeding them through nasal tubes whilst altering nursing notes to "cover her tracks".

Justice Goss told the jury "It will be for you on all the evidence you have heard to reach verdicts."

Letby denies all the charges with her defence saying she has been "stitched up" and wrongly blamed for the infant's deaths.

When giving evidence last month she told the court she “had always wanted to work with children” and that she “only ever did her best to care for them".

She told jurors the ward was unsafe, claiming there were plumbing issues which led to "raw sewage" coming out of the taps meaning staff on the ward "couldn't wash their hands properly".

Her defence says she is being made to take the blame for "inadequate care" at the hospital and that "an assumption of deliberate harm" is being used to "blame her".

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