Provisional trial date set for Hereford nurse accused of murder
Lucy Letby is also charged with attempted murder
A provisional trial date has been set for a nurse from Hereford, accused of the murder of eight babies over a year at a hospital neonatal unit.
31 year-old Lucy Letby, is alleged to have murdered five baby boys and three baby girls while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
She is also accused of the attempted murder of five baby boys and five baby girls, all between June 2015 and June 2016.
She appeared via video-link from HMP Peterborough for a hearing at Chester Crown Court on Friday.
She didn't enter a plea, and another hearing will now be held on May 10th.
Mr Justice Dove set a provisional trial date of January 11th 2022.
He also ruled the trial will be held in Manchester, either at the city's main crown court at Crown Square or the venue currently being used for the public inquiry into the Manchester Arena terror attack.
The hearing on Friday, lasting 35 minutes, dealt largely with case management and pre-trial issues.
Letby, wearing blue jeans, a black top and shoulder length dark hair, spoke only to confirm her identity.
Ben Myers QC, defending, told the court he will 'in due course' be applying for bail for the defendant.
A date for the bail application to be heard has yet to be fixed.
Letby, of Arran Avenue, Hereford, was arrested in 2018 and 2019 as part of the police investigation into the Countess of Chester Hospital, which began in 2017.