THE prosecution case against murder-accused nurse Lucy Letby is “fuelled and riddled by the presumption of guilt”, jurors have heard.

The 33-year-old is accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

On Monday, June 26, her defence barrister, Ben Myers KC, started his closing speech in her trial, which began at Manchester Crown Court last October.

Addressing the jury of eight women and four men, he said: “What is really at work is best described as the presumption of guilt. That is what is being used.

“The prosecution case is fuelled by it and riddled by it.

“No matter what Lucy Letby says, or doesn’t say, it is slotted into an ever-flexible, ever-changing theory of guilt.

“Everything is treated as evidence of guilt.

“I am going to ask you to do something different. I am going to ask you to approach the evidence with something else at the forefront of your mind – that’s something called the presumption of innocence.

“Being fair and working on the basis that someone is innocent until proven guilty is how our law works.”

Mr Myers said it is “hard to imagine” allegations that are “more upsetting and distressing” but urged jurors to “guard against” sympathy and a “natural desire to point blame and to seek retribution”.

He said the prosecution has characterised Letby as “manipulative and calculated” in a way that “serves their case”.

He told the jury: “She was a 25-year-old Band 5 nurse, an excellent one.

“But without being rude or complimentary, that’s what she was. Looking after dozens or hundreds of babies – not just the 17 we have spent these nine months looking at.”

Referring to her cross-examination in evidence, Mr Myers said: “She is not a genius with an infallible and excellent memory.

“She is somebody who was ready to stand up for herself at some points and someone who could remember pieces of evidence from the years she has been waiting for this trial. It’s not like there is loads else to do in prison.

“This is someone who was scared and anxious, and struggling to hold it together.

“The prosecution portrayal is back to front. They have to make her into someone she is not.

“They have done that to compensate for the fact they don’t have the evidence they need.”

Mr Myers pointed out to jurors that, despite Letby being under suspicion by an increasing number of doctors over nearly 12 months, there is no evidence of her doing any of the alleged harmful acts.

Mr Myers said there are two possibilities to explain what happened on the neonatal unit between 2015 and 2016.

Either the deaths and collapses happened as a result of a baby’s condition, maybe in combination with the state of the unit at the time, or staffing pressures or failings in care, he said.

He added: “Then there is the possibility that a young woman – a well-trained and apparently dedicated neonatal nurse – decided to kill children or try to kill them for reasons that are beyond comprehension and unidentified – and makes no sense on the basis of what we see and did so, it seems, out of the blue.

Mr Myers went on to tell the jury the period on the indictment coincided with the period when the hospital took on “too many babies with too many high care requirements”.

The barrister said a “gang of four” senior consultants – Dr Stephen Brearey, Dr Ravi Jayaram, Dr John Gibbs and a doctor who cannot legally be identified – had not given evidence “without motives of their own”.

Letby claims the four pinned blame on her to cover up failings on the unit.

Mr Myers said: “One by one these senior consultants have lined up in their evidence to do their bit to do down Miss Letby. Some blatantly, some understated, but all designed in fact to assist this prosecution.

“The blame for absolutely everything has been heaped on her.”

He said the unit was “unusually busy” between 2015 and 2016, caring for babies with “more complex needs” but with no change in staffing levels.

Letby, from Hereford, denies all the allegations.