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Lucy Letby trial: Experienced nurse ‘struck’ by ‘unusual’ rash on allegedly murdered baby | UK News



An experienced neonatal nurse who was “assaulted” by a rash appearing on a baby believed to have been murdered, told the court: “You don’t really get a rash on an infant.”

The girl, known as Child D, is believed to be the third child murdered by nurse Lucy Letby in a two-week period, along with another teen whose life was threatened during the same period.

Letby is on trial for the murder of seven infants and attempted murder of 10 others at the Countess of Chester hospital from June 2015 to June 2016.

She denies all charges.

Caroline Oakley told Manchester Crown Court she had never before seen an “unusual” rash on any newborn.

Ms. Oakley was the assigned nurse to Child D in the neonatal unit on the night shift June 21, 2015, jurors heard.

Letby, 32, was assigned to two other babies in the same intensive care unit.

Ms Oakley said Child D had been “stable” since she entered the shift at 8pm and until 1:30am on June 22.

“I remember being so happy to be with her,” she said.

But the child suffered two waves when her oxygen levels dropped and she was pronounced dead just hours later.

The prosecution alleges that she was injected with a deadly gas by Letby.

‘Rash hit me’

Giving evidence from behind a screen, Ms. Oakley said: “I remember during my break I was only half an hour away.

“I remember going into daycare and saying ‘what’s going on?'”

Her nursing notes recorded that Child D’s oxygen levels had dropped and she was discolored.

She also recorded: “Skin discoloration was observed. Body, legs, arms, chin.”

Ms. Oakley said: “I don’t remember the exact rash but I remember I hadn’t seen it before. It was dark, it was unusual.

“The rash hit me. I haven’t seen it on a child I’ve cared for.”

She continued: “I’ve tried to describe it. I remember it being a dark red/brown but with a different speck.

“Sometimes when a child has poor coloration, they lose their color and they have a mottled appearance all over, especially this is just a rash in those places. That’s what has stayed with me.

“You don’t really get a rash in babies.”

Witness ‘can’t remember specifics’

The child initially responded to treatment and the rash resolved.

But by 3 a.m. her oxygen levels dropped again.

Ms Oakley said her memory of the warning was “just a blur”.

She said: “I remember being very busy at the time. I don’t know exactly where I was. I could have been in my room or just out of the room in the nursing station. I don’t have a clear memory.”

Ben Myers KC, defending Letby, asked the witness: “Around the time this happened, there was some discussion about the unit that people had seen an unusual rash on one or more other babies. ?”

Mrs. Oakley replied: “I remember that.”

Mr Myers said: “And people compare their recollections of what they’ve seen in other children?”

Ms Oakley said: “I can’t remember the specifics but people have commented on a different rash recently.”

The trial continues on Monday.

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