A nurse has pleaded not guilty to murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others in a hospital neo-natal ward in Chester.
Lucy Letby, 32, is accused of killing or attempting to kill 17 babies at the Countess of Chester hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
The former Countess of Chester nurse, first arrested in July 2018, appeared at Manchester crown court on Monday and entered not guilty pleas to seven counts of murder and 15 of attempted murder.
Wearing a black suit in the glass-panelled dock, Letby stood and replied “not guilty” to each of the 22 counts put to her by the court clerk.
Letby, surrounded by three security officers, was barely audible as she answered the charges before a packed courtroom.
In relation to three of the babies, Letby is accused of attempting to murder them on more than one occasion.
She allegedly attempted to murder one child between 7.15am and 7.30am on 15 June 2016, then again at about 3pm on the same day.
In relation to another, Letby is accused of attempting to kill the child at about 10.15am on 21 September 2015 and again at about 3.30pm on the same day.
Letby denies all the charges. She is expected to go on trial before the judge Sir James Goss later on Monday.
