Accused nurse Lucy Letby “gaslighted” hospital colleagues to persuade them that a rise in baby ­collapses was “just a run of bad luck”, her murder trial heard.

Letby, 33, is alleged to have murdered seven children and attempted to murder 10 others in the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit from 2015 to 2016. She denies all charges.

In his closing speech, Nick Johnson KC, prosecuting, said on Monday: “We want to point out the evolution of Lucy Letby’s murderous assaults on these children.

“And we want to point out how calculated and devious she has been. We suggest Lucy Letby has gaslighted the staff…doctors and nurses alike, professional people with many, many years of combined experience.

“She persuaded them what they knew in their heart of hearts to be utterly abnormal was just a run of bad luck.

“Lucy Letby got away with her campaign of violence for so long because people didn’t contemplate the remotest possibility of a nurse trying to kill tiny babies.”

Mr Johnson said that the “similarities” of many of the cases involved showed that a single person was sabotaging the children.

He told Manchester Crown Court jurors: “Lucy Letby had used ways of killing babies and trying to kill them that didn’t leave much of a trace. Her behaviour persuaded many colleagues that the collapses and deaths were normal.

“Several postmortem examinations in isolation didn’t raise the alarm because no one – no one – was contemplating the possibility of foul play.

“Some of the children she targeted were sick but they would have recovered. She used their vulnerabilities to camouflage her acts.”

The Crown claims that Letby, from Hereford, murdered Child E in August 2015 with an injection of air and then tried to kill his twin brother Child F next day by poisoning his intravenous feed with insulin.

Mr Johnson said two bags of nutrients were contaminated – one which Letby hung up on a night shift and a replacement stock bag used next day when she was not at work.

He continued: “It was only going to one child. It was going to be connected to that child when the poisoner was not there.

“What does that tell you about the mindset of that person? This is why it was a targeted attack. What better way for a poisoner to cover their tracks than to use a replacement bag to be used by an unsuspecting colleague?

“It shows a degree of cold-blooded, cynical planning. It diverts suspicion. It deflects suspicion from Lucy Letby.”

The trial continues.

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