Nurse Lucy Letby is on trial accused of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of ten others, during an alleged year-long killing spree at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
The court heard how Letby messaged a colleague about the death of her first alleged victim saying taking the newborn to the mortuary was “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do”.
Lucy Letby , 32, of Arran Avenue, Hereford, is charged with “attacking – and in some instances murdering – sets of twins, as well as attempting to murder the same children more than once”, reported Sky News. She has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
READ ALSO :Five chilling details of twins ‘held captive & starved in house of horrors’
Jurors at Manchester Crown Court have heard testimony about Letby’s first two alleged victims in June 2015 – twins who suffered sudden collapses in their incubators.
She is said to have fatally injected air into the bloodstream of Child A, and then attempted to murder his sister, Child B, using the same method.
Who is Lucy Letby?
Lucy Letby attended a comprehensive school in Hereford before enrolling at the University of Chester to study nursing. She joined the hospital at the centre of the murder case after graduating and also “spent time at the unit during her training”, said The Telegraph.
According to the Daily Mail, Letby had “a clean record with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and was even the face of a campaign to raise £3m for the unit”.
READ ALSO :Moment fake nurse kidnaps baby after telling mum she’s taking it for tests
Lucy Letby Interview
In an interview with the Chester Standard for an article about the hospital’s 2013 Babygrow Appeal to fund a new neonatal unit, Letby said her role involved “caring for a wide range of babies requiring various levels of support”.
“Some are here for a few days, others for many months and I enjoy seeing them progress and supporting their families,” she added.
After Lucy Letby was arrested, Jordan Sands, who knew the nurse through a former girlfriend, told The Times that she was “quite awkward and geeky but seemed like a kind-hearted person”. A friend who asked not to be named described Letby as “an amazing person”.
The murder case
Lucy Letby worked at Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit from 2011 up until her arrest in 2018. An investigation was launched at the hospital in 2017 following 15 deaths and 17 life-threatening incidents involving babies between June 2015 and June 2016.
READ ALSO :Domestic abuse survivor who won landmark supreme court case is found dead in her home
The hospital had carried out a number of independent expert medical reviews into the deaths before calling in police, amid concerns about the neonatal unit’s high mortality rate. It found that “doctors had begun to note similarities in the deaths of the infants” and recommended “a thorough, external independent review of each neonatal death between January 2015 and July 2016”, reported The New York Times.
Opening the prosecution at Manchester Crown Court, Nick Johnson KC said the collapses and deaths of all 17 children concerned between June 2015 and June 2016 were not “naturally occurring tragedies”.
“They were all the work, we say, of the woman in the dock, who we say was the constant malevolent presence when things took a turn for the worse for these 17 children.”
This week, the court heard that less than two hours after she finished the shift during which Child A died, she searched on Facebook for Child A’s mother.
READ ALSO :Shylah Rodden : Horror moment woman is hit by rollercoaster (video)
Before her next shift started, a fellow nurse messaged Letby asking: “Hi Lucy. Hope you are OK?” Letby responded: “Dad was on the floor crying saying ‘please don’t take our baby away’ when we took him to the mortuary. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Hopefully have a more positive one tonight.”
But hours later, Child B collapsed while Letby was on duty before the youngster later stabilised and was eventually discharged the following month, the court was told.
Last week, the court heard that Letby was interrupted by the mother of one of her other alleged victims who visited her baby boy in the neonatal unit. Child E’s mother did not realise he was being attacked and was told the blood from his mouth was due to a tube, the jury heard. Letby attempted to reassure the mother, saying: “Trust me I’m a nurse.”
The prosecution also alleged that she wrote notes reading “I am evil” and “I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough”. The passages were written on post-it notes following a search of her home, reported the BBC. Another said: “I haven’t done anything wrong and they have no evidence so why have I had to hide away?”
READ ALSO :Lucy Letby: The trial of the neonatal nurse explained
Lucy Letby killed a premature baby girl on the fourth attempt before sending her parents a sympathy card, it was claimed in court. She also allegedly kept an image of the card on her phone.
However, outlining Letby’s defence, Ben Myers KC, said she was a “dedicated nurse” and in “no way did she want to harm” babies. The court heard that she “cared deeply” for those she had to look after.
Reporting restrictions prevent the victims from being formally identified by the press. If convicted of the seven murder charges, Letby would officially become “Britain’s most prolific child killer”, said The Times after she was arrested.
At the beginning of the trial, Lucy Letby , wearing “a blue jacket over a black shirt”, replied “not guilty” to each of the 22 charges she faces, reported the Daily Mirror.
READ ALSO :Who is Princeton University student Misrach Ewunetie?
Read all the Latest News, Entertainment News and gossips here. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Telegram.
