A MEDIC has denied “touting” for the job of assisting a police probe into baby deaths and “giving them what they wanted”, the murder trial of Lucy Letby heard.

Letby, 33, is accused of the murders of seven infants and the attempted murders of 10 others when she worked as a nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neo-natal unit.

Retired consultant paediatrician Dr Dewi Evans has been called by the prosecution to give expert evidence to the court, after he was tasked by Cheshire Police in the summer of 2017 to look at a series of collapses on the unit.

Dr Evans went on to write a number of reports about his findings, Manchester Crown Court has been told.

On Tuesday, March 6, jurors were read an email sent by Dr Evans to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in May 2017, ahead of his involvement with Cheshire Police.

In his message to “Nick” at the NCA’s national injuries database, Dr Evans wrote: “Incidentally I’ve read about the high rate of babies in Chester and that the police are investigating.

“Do they have a paediatric/neonatal contact? I was involved in neonatal medicine for 30 years including leading the intensive care set-up in Swansea. I’ve also prepared numerous neonatal cases where clinical negligence was alleged.

“If the Chester police had no-one in mind I’d be interested to help. Sounds like my kind of case.

“I understand that the Royal College (of Paediatrics and Child Health) has been involved but from my experience the police are far better at investigating this sort of problem.”

Ben Myers KC, defending, said to Dr Evans: “This is you putting yourself forward. In effect, touting for this job.”

Dr Evans replied: “I was offering my professional opinion if that was in their interest.”

Mr Myers said: “It’s you ready to give them what they wanted, Dr Evans?

The witness said: “No, no. I have dealt with several police cases where I have said ‘this case doesn’t cross the threshold of suspicious death or injury’, or whatever.

“My opinions are impartial and independent.

“I also give evidence to law firms representing defendants. In the last five years I have given more reports relating to defendants than the police or the prosecution.”

Mr Myers went on: “At some point before you started writing reports you were told by the police about suspicious rashes and air embolus, weren’t you?”

Dr Evans said: “That is completely untrue. It’s totally untrue.

”The first time I heard a local doctor mention air embolus was a couple of weeks ago.

“The first person I know to raise the area of air embolus was me. I did that in case number one and I thought ‘oh my god, what is going on here?’

“I was not told anything about any suspect. I knew absolutely nothing.”

Last month Countess of Chester consultant Dr Ravi Jayaram told the jury a “chill went down my spine” in June 2016 when he read a research paper that described the effects of air embolism.

He said it “fitted” with the fleeting appearance of purple and pink patches seen on the skin of a number of collapsed babies that he and colleagues had treated.

Letby is accused of attacking several of her alleged victims by injecting air into their circulation and causing an air embolism – a blockage in their blood supply.

The defendant, originally from Hereford, denies all the offences said to have taken place between June 2015 and June 2016.

  • The trial continues on Wednesday, March 8 - The Standard will be providing live updates throughout the day.