Lucy Letby trial: Jury told to judge facts 'calmly and fairly'

The jury in the trial of nurse Lucy Letby have been told to approach their deliberations in a "fair, calm, objective and analytical way".

Judge Mr Justice James Goss told them it would be "instinctive for anyone to react with horror" to any allegation of killing or harming a child.

Ms Letby, 33, denies murdering seven children and attempting to kill 10 others at Countess of Chester Hospital.

Her trial, which has been sitting since October, is drawing to a close.

Mr Justice Goss earlier gave his first set of legal directions to the jury, who will retire to consider their verdicts in the coming weeks.

The neonatal nurse, originally from Hereford, is accused of carrying out the attacks throughout 2015 and 2016.

The jury has heard more than eight months of evidence, including claims she deliberately injected some children with air or poisoned them with insulin.

Ms Letby has insisted she did not harm any of the babies, pointed to issues of poor hygiene in the hospital and accused senior doctors of mounting a conspiracy against her.

Mr Justice Goss told the jury of eight women and four men that they were "the judges of the facts" and any decisions should be based on "evidence and not speculation".

"It is instinctive for anyone to react with horror to any allegation of deliberately harming - let alone killing - a child, the more so a vulnerable, premature baby," he said.

"You will naturally feel sympathy for all the parents in this case, particularly those who have lost a child and the harrowing circumstances of their deaths.

"You must, however, judge the case on all the evidence in a fair, calm, objective and analytical way."

Mr Justice Goss said it was the prosecution's case that Ms Letby deliberately harmed the babies, intending to kill them.

"Some of the babies, they allege, were subjected to repeated attempts to kill them," he said.

This was a case in which the prosecution "substantially, but not wholly" relied on circumstantial evidence, he told the jury.

"The defendant was the only member of nursing and clinical staff who was on duty each time that the collapses of all the babies occurred and had associations with them at material times, either being the designated nurse or working on the unit," he said.

Outlining the defence's case, Mr Justice Goss said it was their view that there were "possible causes for many of the collapses other than an intentional harmful act" and the prosecution's expert evidence "could not be relied on".

He added: "It is for the prosecution to prove the defendant's guilt of any offence by making you sure of her guilt.

"She has no burden of proving her innocence.

"If you are not sure she is guilty of any offence, your verdict should be not guilty.

"If you are sure of her guilt, your verdict should be guilty."

Both the defence and prosecution are expected to give their closing statements next week.

The judge will then sum up the evidence in the case before the jury are sent out to begin their deliberations.

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