He said on the evening of June 24 he called the duty exec senior nurse in the urgent care division. She was 'familiar with concerns'. The doctor told her he 'didn’t want nurse Letby to come back to work the following day or till all this was investigated properly;

He was told 'no' and that 'there was no evidence', the exec was 'happy to take responsibility' for Ms Letby continuing

Dr Brearey told the court that "further conversations" took place the following week and the decision was taken to remove Ms Letby from frontline nursing duties - instead placing her in a clerical role.

Ben Myers KC, defending, noted that Dr Brearey had first "identified" Ms Letby as someone of interest as early as June 2015 after the death of the first three babies in this case.

Dr Brearey had noted, with colleagues, that Ms Letby was present when those three children died in 2015.

Mr Myers put it to the doctor that he was guilty of "confirmation bias" towards Ms Letby and failed to look at "suboptimal care" given to the children in this case. "Absolutely not", he said.

Mr Myers put it to Dr Brearey that if there was a basis for his suspicions, he would have gone to the police. Dr Brearey said he and his colleagues were trying to "escalate appropriately" and needed "executive support" to decide the "correct plan of action going forward".

Dr Brearey added: "It's not something anyone wanted to consider, that a member of staff is harming babies. The senior nursing staff on the unit didn't believe this could be true."

Dr Brearey said with every "unusual" episode of baby collapse between June 2015 and June 2016 there was "increasing suspicion" about Ms Letby, which led him to eventually escalate his concerns and request she be taken off shift.

A doctor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is now in the witness box. She is recalling the events of June 23 - when Child O collapsed several times and eventually died

The doctor said she was 'shocked' by the appearance and deterioration of Child O on June 23. She tells the court she had seen him the previous day and was 'progressing very well'

When she saw the boy shortly before 4pm, she said she remembers him 'just being lifeless and mottled' and thinking 'what has happened'. She said it was 'completely unexpected'

The doctor said she wondered whether the cause of Child O's collapse had been to do with his heart. She asked Dr Brearey, who specialised in cardiac medicine, whether he should have an echocardiogram - he felt one wasn't required

The medic is now recalling Child O's final and fatal collapse. She tells the court 'whatever we gave him was having no effect', she adds this was 'not something I’d seen happen so suddenly in a baby'

Court has now adjourned till tomorrow — wrap up of today’s evidence https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-...