Lucy Letby trial: Nurse was 'playing God' at hospital, trial hears

Nurse Lucy Letby enjoyed "playing God" at the hospital where she is accused of murdering and attacking babies, her trial has heard.

She was said to be "completely out of control" with the "misplaced confidence she could pretty much do whatever she wanted" after her alleged sixth murder.

The 33-year-old denies murdering seven babies and attempting to kill a further 10 at Countess of Chester Hospital.

Her trial heard she was "enjoying what was going on" and "controlling things".

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC has been continuing his closing speech to the jury at Manchester Crown Court.

He reminded them of the allegation that Ms Letby killed one premature boy, referred to as Child O, in June 2016 on her return from a week's holiday in Ibiza.

The court previously heard Child O was in good condition and stable up until the afternoon of 23 June, when he suffered a "remarkable deterioration" and died.

The boy was one of triplets and his brother, referred to as Child P, died just over 24 hours later after also being allegedly attacked by the nurse.

The jury has heard Child O's death was a result of an "inflicted traumatic injury to the liver" and the injection of air into his bloodstream and via a nasogastric tube.

Mr Johnson said on the afternoon of 23 June Ms Letby "deliberately overfed" Child O.

He told the court that on that morning the nurse was "clearly missing" a registrar, who the prosecution have previously suggested Ms Letby "had a crush on".

The registrar, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was on duties away from the neonatal unit at the time.

During the morning, Ms Letby texted him to say: "Bit rubbish that you couldn't stay on [the unit]."

Mr Johnson said Ms Letby's act of "sabotaging" Child O was her way of attracting the attention of the doctor.

The prosecutor said the doctor was "somebody that we suggest she was very keen on. Not just as a friend".

In cross examination, the nurse denied wanting to attract the attention of the doctor and denied sabotaging the baby.

Child O continued to decline throughout the afternoon of 23 June and was pronounced dead at 17:47 BST.

Bruising was found on the boy's liver during the ensuing post-mortem examination, the court heard.

Dr Andreas Marnerides, an expert in neonatal pathology, previously told the jury that the "most likely" cause of the bruising was "an impact type of injury", the force of which was akin to the boy being in a road accident.

Mr Johnson said the murder of Child O was "cruel and it was violent".

He said the nurse "combined all three methods [overfeeding, injection of air and assault] she had previously used to such devastating effect on the other children".

The barrister added: "By this stage she was completely out of control.

"The fact she had got away with so much by the time she returned from Ibiza gave her the misplaced confidence that she could pretty much do whatever she wanted," he said.

After the death of Child O, Mr Johnson said Ms Letby "was determined to mete out the same treatment to [Child P] the very next day."

He said the accused's actions towards Child P displayed her "malevolence at its height".

He accused Ms Letby of doing "something to destabilise" Child P before she left her shift on 23 June and pointed out that she text a colleague that evening which read: "Worry as identical."

"This is gaslighting at its very worst isn't it," Mr Johnson said.

"She was laying the ground for her attack on [Child P]."

After Child P collapsed on 24 June preparations were put in place to move him to another hospital.

Just before the planned transfer, Ms Letby is said to have said to a doctor "he's not leaving here alive, is he?".

Mr Johnson said the accused made this comment as she "knew what was going to happen".

He said: "She was controlling things. She was enjoying what was going on and happily predicting something she knew was going to happen.

"She, in effect, was playing God."

In the week following the deaths of Child O and P, Ms Letby was removed from the unit by hospital managers and given a clerical role, where she remained until her arrest in 2018.

The trial continues.

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