Jury hear from medical expert in Lucy Letby trial

The jury in the trial of a nurse accused of murdering babies on a neonatal ward have heard from an independent medical expert.

Dr Dewi Evans dealt with matters relating to neonatal care and explanations of medical terms, during the fifth day of Lucy Letby's trial.

Ms Letby is charged with murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others at Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016.

Ms Letby, 32, denies 22 charges.

On Friday, jurors received an iPad tutorial, on which much of the evidence will be loaded digitally, in place of paper files.

The eight women and four men of the jury were also shown a "walk through" video of the neonatal unit at Chester as it was when Ms Letby worked there.

Dr Evans, the first witness called in the trial, said he began working in paediatrics 40 years ago and had worked in neonatal units in Swansea, Cardiff and Liverpool.

The court heard he developed neonatal services in south Wales in the 70s and 80s when it was an emerging discipline of medicine.

He told the jury about the evolution of such care, a process he described as "not of reading books, very much hands-on".

He added: "In the 70s babies who were small and ill died. There was very little care available."

Dr Evans also gave explanations to the jury of medical terms which have been heard during the start of the trial and he commented on a series of short videos demonstrating neonatal medical equipment and procedures.

Evidence directly related to the 17 children allegedly harmed by Ms Letby, originally from Hereford, will be heard later in the trial, with Dr Evans being an expert witness.

On Thursday, the jury heard on a post-it note found at Ms Letby's home after her arrest she had written, "I am evil. I did this".

Ben Myers KC, defending Ms Letby, told the jury the note was an "anguished outpouring of a young woman in fear" and the defendant was a dedicated nurse who was "adamant" she did not harm any babies.

The trial was adjourned until Monday morning.

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