Nurse Lucy Letby has described how the deaths of two triplet brothers in as many days was a ‘harrowing experience’ to go through.
The 33-year-old is said to have murdered the boys with lethal injections of air during successive shifts after returning to work at the Countess of Chester Hospital following a holiday in Ibiza.
She told jurors at Manchester Crown Court: ‘It’s devastating. You want to be able to save every baby in your care. You are not supposed to watch a baby die.’
Letby denies murdering seven infants and trying to kill 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016.
She is accused of murdering Child O on her first shift back from the getaway with two pals on June 23, 2016.
Discussing her return to work she messaged a friend saying she would ‘probably be back in with a bang lol’.
Giving evidence for a fifth day, she explained the remark was a reference to what would be a busy shift.
Her barrister Ben Myers KC asked: ‘Does it indicate you were planning something dramatic and terrible when you got back?’
‘No,’ Letby replied.
Child O died in the late afternoon after a number of collapses at the neonatal unit that day.
Letby was present during the final resuscitation bid but said she did not perform any CPR herself.
Asked by Mr Myers to describe the atmosphere among medics when a child cannot be revived, Letby said: ‘Everyone is completely flat.
‘There is a complete change in atmosphere.’
On the following day shift, Letby is said to have murdered Child O’s triplet brother, Child P, also with a fatal administration of air.
Letby was also present when Child P died in the afternoon, similarly following a number of collapses on the day, the court heard.
Mr Myers said: ‘Can you convey to us what the atmosphere was like on the unit when a second triplet had died like this?’
Letby replied: ‘It was a completely flat atmosphere. Everyone was shocked and devastated.
‘I think the general mood… you could tell the whole unit was flat. It was not the usual positive atmosphere.’
Mr Myers went on: ‘How did you feel personally?’
Letby said: ‘I was very upset about this. To have it two days in a row, and to imagine what the parents had gone through, to lose two of their babies… It was harrowing.’
Jurors heard she searched the family’s surname on Facebook a year later on June 23, 2017.
Mr Myers said: ‘Do you remember that taking place?’
Letby said: ‘No.’
Mr Myers said: ‘Is there any particular reason why you have made a search for (family surname) on this date?’
Letby replied: ‘It was the anniversary. They were on my mind.’
Mr Myers said: ‘Were they something that did stay on your mind?’
‘Yes,’ said Letby.
Mr Myers asked: ‘Why?’
Letby said: ‘It was just a harrowing experience to see parents lose two of their children and to have that happen two days running.
‘You don’t forget something like that.’
Letby, from Hereford, denies all the alleged offences. Her trial continues.
