Nurse Lucy Letby has been accused of attacking nine babies just after their parents left their cots, including the same child twice just after their father stepped away, a court has heard.

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC accused Letby of taking the opportunity of their absence to harm the babies treated at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit.

Letby is said to have twice attacked one of the infants, Child H, a baby girl, not long after her father left her nursery to go home.

On Thursday, Johnson reminded Letby of a statement to the court given by the father of Child H, who she allegedly tried to murder twice on successive night shifts in September 2015.

Child H’s father said he left the unit before midnight on 25 September only to receive a phone call hours later to say his daughter was ill.

Johnson put it to Letby that the deterioration was caused by her removing a chest drain – a tube to assist breathing – from Child H, which she denied.

After recovering from cardiac arrest Child H deteriorated again the next night and needed resuscitating. She eventually recovered.

Johnson accused Letby of using the opportunity created by the parents' departure to attack eight other children, which Letby denied.

Five of the children – Child C, Child E, Child I, Child O and Child P – all died on the unit, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The 33-year-old from Hereford is accused of murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of 10 others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. Letby denies all charges.

On Wednesday Letby suggested a night medical team could have "acted sooner" to prevent a bleeding issue in one of the babies she is accused of murdering while he was under her care.

Child E's mother had said she heard “horrendous crying” and saw blood around her baby's mouth when she visited him at around 9pm. However, Letby claimed that no bleeding occurred before 10pm.

The prosecution claimed Letby inflicted an injury on Child E and injected him with air, while she is also accused of attempting to murder Child E's twin brother, Child F, by poisoning him with insulin.

Latest updates on the Lucy Letby trial:

• Lucy Letby trial: Nurse says 'raw sewage' on hospital floor may have contributed to baby deaths (Sky News, 4 min)

• Lucy Letby ‘attacked nine babies just after their parents left their cotsides’ (PA, 3 min)

• Accused Lucy Letby tells court doctors could have acted sooner to assist baby (PA, 4 min)

Who is Lucy Letby and where is she from?

Letby's address has been given in court as Arran Avenue, Hereford, but the 33-year-old is known to have lived in the Blacon area of Chester.

She worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit.

In a 2013 interview with the Chester and District Standard newspaper, the nurse said she cared for babies requiring various levels of support.

She had worked at the unit as a student nurse during three years of training before qualifying as a children's nurse at the University of Chester in 2011.

Letby said she started working at the unit after graduating.

When was Lucy Letby arrested and what is she charged with?

Letby was arrested three times over the space of two years during an investigation into baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit.

The first arrest was in July 2018, on suspicion of the murder of eight babies and the attempted murder of six babies. She was bailed.

Letby was then rearrested in June 2019, again on suspicion of the murder of eight babies and the attempted murder of six babies. This time, she was also arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of three additional babies. She was bailed.

Finally, in November 2020, Letby was rearrested on suspicion of the murder of eight babies and the attempted murder of nine babies.

One day later, police charged Letby with eight counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder. The charges related to a period between June 2015 and June 2016.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing at Manchester Crown Court in October 2021.

In June last year, Letby had one not guilty verdict recorded for one of the murder charges.

It meant that when she went on trial in October last year, she faced seven murder charges (five boys and two girls) and 10 attempted murder charges (five boys and five girls).

Letby denies the alleged offences. The trial continues.