Lucy Letby trial: Parents of sole surviving triplet 'BEGGED' for relocation of newborn after his brothers died
CHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM: A court heard today that the parents of a newborn triplet requested medical staff to transfer him to a separate facility after Lucy Letby, a nurse, allegedly killed his two brothers within a day. The bereaved parents pleaded with doctors to transfer their survivor infant from the Countess of Chester Hospital to a specialized facility.
Letby, 33, is accused of killing the babies, known as Baby O and P, in June 2016 by repeatedly injecting air into their stomachs and bloodstreams. According to Manchester Crown Court, the nurse was "in pieces" and "in floods of tears" following the death of the second sibling, who was waiting to be transferred to Liverpool Women's Hospital when he died.
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She helped with the picture sessions and memory boxes after the babies died and dressed the two infants in coordinated clothing. Baby P's parents, who cannot be identified for legal reasons and is not a party to the trial, begged the transfer team to take their surviving son instead when they arrived. Before returning home, he spent several weeks in the neonatal unit at Liverpool Women's Hospital, as reported by Daily Mail.
'No way he's staying at this hospital'
The triplets' father spoke to detectives in an emotional video interview that was played for the jury. The father said, "The transport team fought with Baby P for maybe 10 to 15 minutes. Not long after they arrived, he passed away, they couldn't do any more. While they were there we begged for them to take (name of surviving son)."
He further added, "We said 'there is no way he's staying at this hospital, you've got to take him, otherwise we'll take him ourselves' but obviously he was too small. They agreed to take him over." The court was informed that Letby allegedly brought the two deceased babies, who were in special cold cots, to visit their parents before their son was relocated. The father said, "I'm pretty sure that it was Lucy Letby who wheeled the two boys down to us in the cold box. I'm sure it was her, 110%."
'Flitting' rash
The jury has been informed that numerous other children, including three more, who died of alleged attack by Letby, also displayed a similar "flitting" rash. The father of the triplets screamed and cried as he recalled how Baby O's stomach looked during the resuscitation. The pair also spoke of "pandemonium" and "panicking" among the employees during each emergency.
Parents expressed surprise that Baby O was fed and cared for by a student nurse and expressed disappointment that their sons didn't appear to receive "one-to-one" nursing. At one point during the resuscitation, when Baby P's lungs collapsed, his mother claimed she was "alarmed" to observe a doctor "Googling" how to carry out a specific technique on a computer. On the other hand, Hereford resident Letby denies killing seven babies and trying to kill 10 more between June 2015 and June 2016, as reported by Mirror.