Lucy Letby: Status as multiple murderer important evidence, court told

Letby, 34, is on trial at Manchester Crown Court charged with a single offence of the attempted murder of a baby girl, Child K.

Last summer, the defendant was convicted in a “very long trial” of seven murders and seven attempted murders relating to six other children, the court heard, while she worked as a nurse at the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Opening the case on Wednesday, prosecutor Nick Johnson KC told jurors: “Those other cases that I have mentioned do have an importance in this case because we suggest it’s not because you should convict her because of what she’s done in other cases, but what we are asserting is the relevance that it gives you significant evidence of what her intention was at the time.

"We say, we allege, she did things, or something to, (Child K).

“Putting it in a nutshell, we are saying that her status as a multiple murderer and attempted murderer is an important piece of the evidence that you can, if you wish, take into account when you are considering whether we have made you sure that she attempted to murder (Child K).”

Jurors in the previous trial failed to reach a verdict regarding the allegation.

Letby, of Hereford, watched on from the dock as the opening statement was delivered.

She denies that she attempted to murder Child K on February 17, 2016.

As part of the prosecution opening, jurors were told Child K was born "very, very premature" at 2.12am that day, but was doing "remarkably well" in the minutes after her birth, as recorded on clinical notes at the time.

The court heard the baby girl was born at the Countess of Chester Hospital. The hospital would not normally would not treat babies born so prematurely, but due to the risks of transporting the mother and baby to a tertiary centre - and given that the only available centre was in Preston at the time - the decision was made for the birth to happen in Chester.

The trial continues.