Lucy Letby’s defence lawyer argues it would have been virtually impossible for her to tamper with medical equipment as accused
Lucy Letby, the 33-year-old neonatal nurse accused of attempting to murder a twin baby by poisoning him with insulin, has denied all charges and had her defence lawyer question the plausibility of the prosecution’s case. Letby is alleged to have poisoned two bags of intravenous nutrition, used to feed Baby F, with insulin. This alleged action, which caused the baby’s blood sugar to drop dramatically, took place on August 5, 2015, during a night shift at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Her barrister, Ben Myers KC, has challenged the prosecution’s suggestion that Letby intentionally targeted the baby, arguing that the theory would require “a Nostradamus-like ability to predict the future.” Myers described the idea of tampering with two separate bags of nutritional feed as “completely unrealistic” and questioned how Letby could have foreseen that the second bag would be used after she had left her shift.
Myers further criticised the prosecution’s claim that Letby had access to the bags and could have injected insulin without being detected. He pointed out that the bags were stored in a refrigerator with no particular order and that the likelihood of her targeting the right one was far-fetched. Additionally, he argued there was no evidence to support the assertion that Letby interfered with either bag.
The defence also highlighted the logistical challenges of carrying out such an attack. Myers pointed out that the process would involve multiple steps, including obtaining insulin from the fridge, injecting it into the TPN bag, and ensuring that no one noticed the tampering—all actions that would have been difficult to carry out under the circumstances.
Letby stands accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder ten others between 2015 and 2016. However, she denies all of the charges. Her defence team continues to argue that the evidence presented by the prosecution is insufficient to prove the accusations.
