A member of the jury in the Lucy Letby trial has been discharged for “good personal reasons”, a judge has told Manchester crown court.

The nurse, 33, has been on trial for almost 10 months charged with murdering seven babies and attempting to kill another 10 on the hospital neonatal unit where she worked.

Letby, a former children’s nurse at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England, denies all the charges against her.

The jury of eight women and four men has been deliberating the case for more than 66 hours over 13 days.

The judge, Mr Justice Goss, told jurors on Thursday that one of their group had informed the court that they were no longer able to serve on the jury “for good personal reasons”.

He added: “The trial will continue with 11 of you. I will give you further directions tomorrow when you return to court.

“There is no significance. This happens in trials not infrequently. You can continue as a jury of 11 very well.”

The jury has been instructed to try to return verdicts on which they are all agreed on the seven counts of murder and 15 of attempted murder.

The loss of one juror means they would have to return verdicts on which 10 are agreed if they are not able to reach a unanimous decision.

Goss thanked the juror for their service for “the extremely long period of time” of the trial, which began in October.

He said: “I imagine it will be slightly frustrating for you but it’s an inevitability. I’m sorry you can’t continue.

“It’s vital that you hear me say this and your fellow jurors hear me say this to you that there must be no communication between you and your fellow jurors.”

Goss told the jury there was a “lifetime prohibition” on them discussing their deliberations with anybody.

He added to the discharged juror: “You must not communicate with any of your fellow jurors on this case about anything to do with this case because you are no longer a juror on this case.”

The jury began deliberating verdicts on 10 July and are in their third week of considering the charges.

Letby has been on trial over what the prosecution allege was a “calculated” and “cold blooded” year-long series of killings from June 2015.

She is accused of murdering newborns by injecting them with air, and attempting to kill others by poisoning them with insulin or “sabotaging” their feeding tubes. She denies all the charges.

The trial continues.

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