THE trial of Lucy Letby, who denies murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit and attempting to murder 10 more, has once more been adjourned due to juror illness.

Jurors have been attending Manchester Crown Court to hear the trial of Lucy Letby, who was working as a neonatal unit nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital during the time of the indictment between June 2015 and June 2016.

She denies all 22 charges in relation to the fatal and non-fatal collapses of babies in the neonatal unit during that time.

The case is now in its ninth week before the jury, and today (Wednesday, December 7) was due to hear further evidence in the case of Child G, a baby girl born weighing 1lb 2oz at Wirral's Arrowe Park Hospital in May 2015, before later being transferred to the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Letby, 32, allegedly tried to murder the youngster hours after she helped put up a party banner at the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit to celebrate the girl turning 100 days old.

The defendant is accused of overfeeding the baby with milk through a nasogastric tube (NGT) and/or injecting air into the tube.

Prosecutors say she struck after 2am on September 7, 2015 while a colleague designated to look after the infant, referred to as Child G, was on an hour-long break.

Prosecutors say the defendant made two more attempts to murder Child G on September 21.

In his opening statement to the jury, Ben Myers KC, defending, said Letby did not do anything to contribute to the health problems of Child G, who he said was “extremely premature” and “high risk”.

The trial was adjourned today (Wednesday, December 7) due to a juror confirming they had tested positive for Covid.

The trial will resume when the full jury of eight women and four men are in attendance. This date has yet to be confirmed, but could be on Friday, December 9.

It is the fourth day which has been adjourned due to an ill juror in the trial, and the second this week.

The judge, Mr Justice James Goss, previously told the court "these things happen", and was anticipated during a trial which is expected to last six months.