THROUGHOUT the nine-month trial, Lucy Letby was present in court every day evidence was heard.

The 33-year-old defendant also appeared in court for most of the jury deliberation time, at the start and end of each day. Notably, after the second set of guilty verdicts came back, her attendance became more sporadic, and she is not expected to attend her sentencing either in person or via videolink.

For the majority of the 10-month trial, she had looked on impassively from the dock as dozens of witnesses and lawyers talked through the evidence presented by the prosecution.

DCI Nicola Evans, of Cheshire Police, had watched the trial throughout from the public gallery.

Chester and District Standard: Det Ch Insp Nicola Evans from Cheshire Constabulary.Det Ch Insp Nicola Evans from Cheshire Constabulary. (Image: PA.)

Asked what she had made of Letby, DCI Evans replied: "Beige."

Clarifying that, she added: "There is nothing outstanding about her as a person, and that has come across in the trial - she is an 'average' nurse, a normal 20-something-year-old [at the time Letby committed her crimes in 2015 and 2016].

"Clearly there is another side that nobody saw. During the trial she has been described as calculating and callous; she has shown a lack of emotion for the babies.

"I don't think anybody could listen to the evidence and not feel some sort of sadness. I don't think we have seen that from Lucy Letby in the trial."

One of the notable exceptions to this 'beige' appearance was on when the 33-year-old defendant broke down in tears on Thursday, February 16 - the 16th week of the trial.

This was when a male doctor, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was about to give evidence in the trial for the first time, screened from the public gallery and the defendant.

She was visibly upset as she walked towards the exit door before she had a brief, hushed conversation with a woman dock officer. Still appearing unsettled, she spoke with her solicitor through the glass panel before her barrister, Benjamin Myers KC, indicated to trial judge Mr Justice James Goss that proceedings could continue.

The court later heard in the trial that Letby and the male doctor had been good friends, meeting up for day trips after the defendant had been taken off neonatal duties in July 2016, although Letby denied their relationship was anything more than that.

There was one other occasion, before Letby began giving evidence, when she showed emotion, and that was when pictures of her home in Westbourne Road at the time of her 2018 arrest were shown to the court. Letby also wiped away tears as these photos were shown during the time she gave evidence, recalling the records of her two cats, Tigger and Smudge.

In evidence, Letby appeared calm and solemn, becoming tearful when asked about the effect being removed from nursing duties had on her, and about notes she had written during that time. Regarding a note in which the word 'HELP' was written in block capitals, she said: "I wanted someone to help me at that point, but nobody could help me."

In the first cross-examination question by prosecutor Nicholas Johnson KC, he asked Letby: "“Is there any reason why you cry when you talk about yourself and do not cry when you talk about the dead and seriously injured children?”

Letby replied: “I have cried when talking about some of the babies.”

During the prosecution and defence closing speeches, the only time Letby appeared emotional was when Mr Myers concluded his closing speech, as he told the jury: "Please keep at the forefront of your mind the person she was at the time these events were happening, not what she has been reduced to."

Letby also wept on Tuesday, August 8, when the 11 remaining members of the jury unanimously found her guilty of poisoning two children with insulin. When the jury returned to give guilty verdicts on four of the murder charges, her head remained bowed throughout.