Letby 'did not intervene' when baby became unwell - court

A hospital consultant says he saw nurse Lucy Letby standing next to a baby girl who was deteriorating and was doing nothing to intervene, a court has heard.

It is alleged the baby's breathing tube had been dislodged by the nurse, who is charged with attempted murder.

Dr Ravi Jayaram told the jury at Letby's retrial he had helped to deliver the infant, known as Baby K, who was born 15 weeks premature, in February 2016.

The 34-year-old denies a single count of attempted murder.

In the hours after her birth, Dr Jayaram was overseeing the baby's care, who was in an incubator in the intensive care room of the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Dr Jayaram told the jury he was sitting at the nurses' station organising the baby's transfer to a more specialised hospital, when he became aware Letby had been left on her own with the infant, who was less than two hours old at the time.

He told the court: "At this time, in February 2016, we had had a number of unusual incidents with babies, and a number of colleagues and myself had noted the association with Lucy Letby being present at these things.

"We had had an external review and we'd not found anything obvious and I was sitting there, and I'll be very honest, I felt very uncomfortable.

"Objectively you could say that was very irrational, but I just had a feeling because of knowing what had happened before.

"My internal dialogue was saying 'stop being stupid, get on with your work' and I needed to just go in and reassure myself that everything was OK."

The consultant said when he went into the baby's room, he found Baby K's oxygen saturation levels were dropping and she was deteriorating.

He told the jury Letby, originally of Hereford, was standing by the incubator and not intervening. The ventilator alarm was not sounding.

Dr Jayaram said he asked Letby what was happening, and she replied: "Oh it looks like she's desaturating."

He said he gave the baby breaths with a mask and she quickly improved.

She was transferred to a different hospital later the same day. She died when she was three days old.

Letby is not alleged to have caused her death.

The nurse denies the charge of attempting to murder Baby K.

The jury of six men and six women has been told Letby was convicted at a trial last year of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six other infants at the Countess of Chester between June 2015 and June 2016.

The retrial continues.