Published: April 6, 2023
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Lucy Letby's murder trial continues at Manchester Crown Court this morning. We'll be hearing evidence from a medical expert in relation to Child Q, Ms Letby's final alleged victim. The nurse denies all charges against her.

Medical expert Dr Sandie Bohin is now in the witness box. She was asked to review the findings of Dr Dewi Evans - who reviewed all the cases on instruction from Cheshire Police in 2017

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC asks Dr Bohin if there could be a natural/obvious explanation for 'clear fluid' being aspirated from Child Q on the morning of 25 June (soon after the baby boy collapsed and required resuscitation)

She says: 'No, I don’t know where plus plus plus of clear fluid (as written on nursing note) comes from given at that time he had not had any feed since 2hrs previously, only a very tiny amount of milk..'

She added: 'What was aspirated here was clear fluid not milk, I can’t explain where it would have come from'. She concludes that liquid/air was forced down his NG tube

Ben Myers KC, defending, is now cross examining Dr Bohin. He references evidence from a nurse, who cannot be named, who said she saw mucous at Child Q's mouth, he puts it to her that this could be clear liquid referred to and asks if it was could it cause breathing difficulty

She says it is unlikely it would be mucous, but says if it was, in that volume, it could cause issues

Nick Johnson KC has just read a summary of Ms Letby's police interview in relation to the collapse of Child Q. In this she denied doing anything to harm the baby boy and said it was a 'coincidence he became unwell when she came on duty'

The jury is now being shown text/facebook messages from 26 June onwards between Ms Letby and colleagues (in relation to Child Q)

In messages to a colleague on 27 June, Ms Letby complains that the neonatal unit is 'way over capacity', she says the 'unit needs properly assessing, I don’t think equipment gets cleaned properly….we haven’t got space to maintain hygiene'

We've just been shown messages between Ms Letby and a colleague were she says she is 'worried' after being asked by a senior nurse not to come in for her night shift and that she would be on days from now on

She said to one colleague it was 'worrying in case they think I missed something or whatever'. She says the fact she had a call late on 27 June was 'messing with her head' and making her worry - in responses, two of her colleagues are reassuring her

Ms Letby tells a colleague that the call from a senior nurse telling her not to come in had sent her into a 'meltdown' and that she was 'completely overwhelmed' with worry

We've seen an extensive number of messages between Ms Letby and a doctor who cannot be named for legal reasons in early July 2016. We're currently being shown an email that the doctor forwarded to Ms Letby on 6 July - it was addressed to him from Dr Stephen Brearey

The court has previously heard that it was Dr Brearey who had first raised concerns that Ms Letby was working when a number of babies at the hospital had crashed

The email from Dr B to the doctor is asking him to set out details of some of the collapses of babies. The doctor tells Ms Letby 'this email has to stay between us'

Court now being shown an email, sent by a senior nurse, to all staff. It states that there would be an external review and that for a period members of staff would have to be placed under clinical supervision - starting with Ms Letby

The nurse said that it was 'not meant to be a blame or competency issue but a way forward to ensure our practice is safe'

Ms Letby says, in a message to a colleague, that she has made a 'timeline' of all the events over the last year adding: 'If they have nothing or minimal on me they’ll look silly'

Wrap of today’s evidence. Back April 17. Lucy Letby was given a role in a hospital's risk and patient safety office after doctors raised concerns over her alleged involvement in baby deaths 👇🏻 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-...

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