THE mother of Child I had her victim impact statement read out at Manchester Crown Court in the sentencing of Lucy Letby.

She said she and the father of Child I were “made up” with how well their baby daughter was doing after being born at 27 weeks, and were told that they only needed to watch out for infection.

After a couple of weeks at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Child I had her first collapse. The mother recalled: “It was really bad to watch our daughter go through this.

“When they thought it was due to infection this made me become paranoid because I didn’t want her to go through this again, so at first I wouldn’t get [Child I] out of her incubator as she was safer in there. We stopped all family from visiting.

“A few weeks after the first collapse [Child I] had another one. I had gone home at 3 o’clock and for the first time in a while I had started to relax because [Child I] was doing well, she was no longer in an incubator and was in a cot.

“I decided to go and see a friend because I hadn’t spoken or seen anyone since [Child I] was born. Within half an hour of being there I got a phone call to get to the hospital asap as [Child I] had become unwell.

“When I arrived at the hospital they were resuscitating [Child I]. I was on my own...it was so scary having to watch our tiny little girl have to fight so hard.

“Just before [Child I’s] third collapse she was like a full-term baby, she was on bottle feeds, sat on my knee, very alert, she often smiled and she never cried, she was a very content little girl.

“But a week later this all changed, we were called and told we needed to come in. When we arrived we were told [Child I] had been found unresponsive in her cot.

“After this collapse [Child I] was all swollen and looked in a lot of pain; her eyes looked very sad...but as the days went on [Child I] started to really improve.

“On the night [Child I] died we were speaking with the nurses and they said at the rate she was improving there was still a chance she would be home for Christmas.

“When we arrived they were resuscitating [Child I]. It wasn’t like all the other times, [Child I] wasn’t fighting. I remember standing by the incubator with my hand on her foot because there was only room for us at the bottom.

“I was shaking, I couldn’t look at the monitors because I knew she was a lot worse than all the other times. I felt absolutely broken.

“When they handed [Child I] to us we never wanted to let her go, we held her so tight. She was our gorgeous little princess and I can’t explain the pain; when we lost her, a part of us died with her.

“The first year after [Child I’s] death was a blur; I don’t even know how we got through it. I would wear sunglasses permanently to hide the pain and tears.

“I would relive all these collapses and the emotions were like they were at that moment, happening again.”

The mother said Child I’s father was “convinced someone had done this to [Child I]”, and the couple were “absolutely broken” at the news Letby had been arrested.

The court heard: “I don’t think we will ever get over the fact our daughter was tortured till she had no fight left in her, and everything she went through over her short life was deliberately done by someone who was supposed to protect her and help her come home where she belonged.”