Baby stable before death apart from high blood sugar reading, Lucy Letby murder trial told
Nurse denies murders of seven babies and attempted murders of 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016
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A baby boy was stable apart from an “abnormal” high blood sugar reading less than 12 hours before his death, the Lucy Letby murder trial heard.
The neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital is said to have murdered the infant, referred to as Child E, by administering a fatal amount of air into the bloodstream.
Child E, a prematurely born twin, died in the early hours of 4 August 2015 while Ms Letby was his designated night-shift nurse.
On Tuesday, a nursing colleague, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told jurors at Manchester Crown Court that Child E’s observations were “stable” throughout the day on 3 August.
But in the mid-afternoon, she asked a doctor to review the infant when she noted his blood glucose level was high, in what she described as an “abnormal find”.
Insulin was then recommended and a dose given, the court heard, as the glucose level later dropped.
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Prosecutor Simon Driver asked the witness: “Taking all data into account, in addition to your monitoring of the baby, on balance what was your assessment of his condition during the shift?”
The nurse replied: “[Child E] was doing well on that shift apart from the high blood sugars. They can indicate a worrying factor. It can be a distress response.”
The witness agreed with Ben Myers KC, defending, that a baby like Child E, however stable he was, was vulnerable to health complications.
Ms Letby, originally from Hereford, is also accused of attempting to murder Child E’s twin brother, Child F, by poisoning him with insulin.
She denies the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016.
The trial continues on Wednesday.