Lucy Letby trial: Babies died 'due to care failures and not murder'

The deaths of seven babies at a hospital were due to "serial failures in care" and not murder-accused nurse Lucy Letby, her defence barrister has said.

Ms Letby shed tears as Ben Myers KC said the case against her was "driven by a relentless presumption of guilt".

Ending his closing remarks, he urged the jury to "apply a presumption of innocence" and find her not guilty.

He said there was "no direct evidence" the 33-year-old had harmed anybody.

Ms Letby, originally from Hereford, is charged with murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others at Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.

The charges, all of which she denies, had relied upon "partisan and poorly reasoned expert evidence", Mr Myers said.

He said: "We say there were terrible failings in care on that unit that have nothing to do with Lucy Letby.

"Between June 2015 and June 2016 the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester took more babies than it would usually care for and took babies with greater care needs.

"In that same year there was an increase in the number of deaths and the types of collapses we're looking at in this trial. Those two facts are connected, we would say."

Mr Myers said Ms Letby was a dedicated nurse who cared for hundreds of babies.

"She suddenly didn't change her behaviour in 2015," he said.

"What changed was the babies on the unit and the inability of this unit to cope."

Mr Myers said the evidence had shown "serial failures in care" on the unit but "nobody is going to come here and admit that to you".

The barrister said the consultants who have accused Ms Letby "are not neutral" and were "deeply involved in what happens".

"We say at times they have said things deliberately to prejudice Ms Letby's position."

The barrister said much of the prosecution's case rested on the expert evidence of Dr Dewi Evans and Dr Sandie Bohin, which he said had been "proven to be partisan and directed towards supporting a theory of guilt".

He continued: "I am saying this on [Ms Letby's] behalf, no one else is going to say it.

"She was hardworking, deeply committed, had a happy life, loved her work and she was there much of the time because she was committed, because she loved being a nurse."

He said Ms Letby was the victim of a "system that wanted to apportion blame when it failed".

Mr Myers invited the jury to "apply a presumption of innocence and not a presumption of guilt", adding: "If you do that you will reach the right verdicts, verdicts of not guilty and those are the verdicts we ask you to return".

The trial continues.

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