A tiny premature baby who Lucy Letby was today convicted of attempting to murder three times survived her brutal attacks before dying days later in her father's arms.
The child, known as Baby K, had been born weighing just 1lbs 8oz, 15 weeks early at the Countess of Chester Hospital when her mother went into labour unexpectedly early, in February 2016.
Prosecutors described how Letby was caught 'virtually red-handed' trying to murder Baby K by dislodging her breathing tube less than two hours after she was born.
The child, described by her family as a 'perfect little girl', was later transferred to a nearby specialist hospital 12 hours after her birth. Her condition went on to worsen and her parents made the heartbreaking decision to turn off her life support.
In a moving statement, which was read to the jury, Baby K's mother described this as 'by far the hardest decision of my life'.
Prosecutors described how Lucy Letby was caught 'virtually red-handed' trying to murder Baby K by dislodging her breathing tube less than two hours after she was born
A file photo of the neo-natal unit inside the Countess of Chester Hospital
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'As we walked into the room I could see the monitors and sats readings were low - I knew straight away things weren't great,' she said.
'The doctor confirmed the worst. I asked if it was just a waiting game now or if she was going to get better. We had a long conversation and she said what happens next was entirely our decision.
'I remember saying to the doctor that she had been poked and prodded from the moment she was born, her tiny, little, delicate body had swollen up so much I didn't want her to be suffering any more.
'We didn't want to be informed that we'd lost our little girl by alarms on the machines going off, we didn't want to prolong things anymore.
'We made the decision to switch off the machines and let her go. It was by far the hardest decision of my life.
'One of the staff showed us to a family room where it was peaceful and quiet. Our daughter was wrapped in a blanket and was wearing a little hat. Our daughter was in my husband's arms when she took her last breath and silently passed away.'
Baby K's mother dabbed her eyes with a tissue as the statement was read to the jury. She and her husband were present in the public gallery, sitting just yards from Letby, who is in the glass-panelled dock, flanked by three security guards.
The jury was told that, after being 'caught virtually red-handed' by senior paediatrician Dr Ravi Jayaram, Letby tampered with Baby K's breathing tube twice more over the next three hours on the same shift to cover her tracks and make it appear the child was prone to collapse.
Child K was transferred to a specialist hospital later on February 17 because of her extreme prematurity. She died there three days later, although the prosecution does not allege Letby caused her death.
Although Baby K was in the neo-natal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital for less than 12 hours and Letby never knew her first name, she searched for her parents on Facebook more than two years later, the court heard.
Letby was found guilty of Baby K's attempted murder today.
Child K was transferred from the Countess of Chester (pictured) to a specialist hospital later on February 17 because of her extreme prematurity
She is already serving 14 whole life orders for the murders of seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and the attempted murders of six others.
In his closing speech to the jury, prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said the nurses and doctors at the Countess of Chester Hospital had cared for Baby K 'to the best of their abilities... with one notable exception'.
He said defence accusations of sub-optimal care at the Countess of Chester and questioning whether Child K should have been born there rather than a specialist hospital amounted to 'throwing the mud of incompetence at the doctors and hoping some would stick' with the 'underlying suggestion that Lucy Letby was being scapegoated'.
Mr Johnson added: 'We say that the events that define (Child K's) time at the Countess of Chester are best described as criminal, not sub-optimal.
'And these are criminal because the ill fortune that befell (Child K) was a result of the deliberate acts of Lucy Letby.'
Body worn camera footage issued by Cheshire Constabulary showing Letby's arrest
Turning to Letby's Facebook search for Child K's surname on a late Friday night in April 2018, Mr Johnson said: 'The truth is, ladies and gentlemen, is that Lucy Letby had a fascination with the babies she had murdered and attempted to murder, and with their families. She took pleasure in her murderous handiwork.'
A court order prevents the parents of Baby K or any of Letby's other victims from being identified.
