Lucy Letby ‘wrote “I’m evil, I did this, I killed them on purpose” after murdering 7 babies and taking pic of bodies’
A NURSE accused of murdering seven babies handwrote a confession saying "I'm evil, I did this", a court heard today.
Lucy Letby, 32, allegedly wrote on a green Post-It note shown to jurors: "I don't deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough."
It's claimed she also wrote: "I am a horrible evil person" and in capital letters, "I AM EVIL I DID THIS."
She also took a photograph of two babies' bodies after she killed them, the court heard.
The nurse snapped the brothers together in a cot after she spent time with their parents following their death, it is alleged.
Letby is accused of killing seven babies and injuring ten others over a year at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Cheshire.
She is said to have murdered Child P, one of triplets on June 24 2016 - the day after she is said to have murdered his brother, Child O.
Child P suffered an "acute deterioration" before preparations were put in place to move him to another hospital.
Just before the planned transfer, a doctor was said to be "optimistic" about his prospects but then "all of a sudden Lucy Letby said to him something like 'he's not leaving alive here, is he?'", said Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC.
Shortly after, Child P collapsed and died, Manchester Crown Court heard.
He said: "That remark surprised (the doctor) but Lucy Letby's prediction came true. After all, she knew what she had done to him and therefore she knew what was likely to happen.
"It is certainly what she intended because it was something she had done to so many other children."
A coroner recorded the death as "prematurity" but independent experts who were tasked with reviewing Child P's case said the most likely cause was air injected into his stomach which compromised his breathing.
Most read in The Sun
After Child P's death, Letby spent time with his parents and at one point took a photograph of Child P and his brother, Child O, in a cot, the court heard.
She denied causing Child P any deliberate harm.
She then allegedly attempted to murder Child Q by injecting him with excess air and a clear fluid the day after she killed Child P, the court heard.
The baby was transferred to another hospital and made a rapid recovery when removed from the "orbit of Lucy Letby", said the prosecutor.
Mr Johnson said that following the events of June 2015 to June 2016, the consultants suspected the deaths and life-threatening collapses of the 17 children were "not medically explicable and were the result of the actions of Lucy Letby".
Benjamin Myers KC, defending, insisted the notes were from an “anguished woman in despair” and said they do not accurately reflect what happened.
A line on the note said Letby has an “overwhelming fear [...] I’ll never have children or marry. I will never know what it’s like to have a family.”
Mr Myers also told jurors: "Lucy Letby was a dedicated nurse. She trained hard to be a neo-natal nurse and what she wanted was to care for babies she looked after.
"In no way did she want to harm them. The defence say she is not guilty of causing intentional harm to any baby or to killing any baby.
"She loved her job. She cared deeply about the babies and also cared for their families.
"She had a fulfilling life, had friends, a life outside work.
"You won't get the answers to this case looking at this woman in the dock now. This is how she is and where she is six years after starting to face allegations like this.
"You can imagine that must be utterly gruelling for anyone.
"This is an important part of her case. The requirement to keep context in mind and to distinguish how she was when events were said to have taken place, compared to how she is now.
"With these allegations we are dealing with a real person who is where she is now. Anyone who approaches this as some kind of a done deal has got this very badly wrong."
He argued coincidence was an issue for the jury to consider as well as concentrating on medical evidence to insist on Letby's innocence.
The "poisoner at work" is accused of injecting two babies with insulin during a year-long killing spree.
Letby also allegedly murdered or harmed others by injecting air or milk into their bloodstream or via a tube in their stomachs.
The collapses and deaths of all 17 children in the case were not "naturally-occurring tragedies", it was said.
The jury yesterday heard how a doctor caught Letby attempting to kill one baby, named as Child K.
Dr Ravi Jayaram, a paediatric consultant who has appeared on This Morning and the One Show, had helped deliver the baby on February 17, 2016, weighing just 692g.
While arrangements were being made for Child K to be transferred to a specialist hospital, the medic was aware Letby was alone with her, it is alleged.
Nick Johnson KC, prosecuting, said: "Feeling uncomfortable with this because he had started to notice the coincidence between the unexplained deaths, serious collapses and the presence of Lucy Letby, Dr Jayaram decided to check on where Lucy Letby was and how child K was.
"As he walked into room one, he saw Letby standing over child K's incubator. She did not have her hands inside the incubator, but Dr Jayaram could see from the monitor on the wall that child K's oxygen saturation level was falling dangerously low, to somewhere in the 80s.
"But the alarm was not sounding as it should have been and Lucy Letby had not called for help, despite child K's oxygen levels falling.
"We allege she was trying to kill child K when Dr Jayaram walked in."
The court was also told about a number of other babies Letby allegedly attempted to murder while at the hospital.
This includes a premature baby girl - Child I - Letby allegedly tried to kill four times.
After her death, the baby's mum told how Letby was "smiling and kept going on about how she was present at Child I's first bath and how much Child I had loved it", it was said.
The court was also told she sent a sympathy card to the grieving parents, which was "not normal".
Child I was said to be "in good condition" despite her size and was described as "resilient".
Mr Johnson told jurors Letby succeeded on the fourth attempt to murder the baby.
He added: "It was persistent, it was calculated and it was cold-blooded."
On October 12 to 13, 2015, the baby was doing well so the designated nurse left her "temporarily" and asked either Letby or another staff member on duty to keep an eye on her, it was said.
When she returned, Letby was allegedly stood in the doorway of the "darkened" room where she told the nurse the tot "looked pale".
The designated nurse discovered Child I "appeared to be at the point of death and was not breathing," jurors heard.
She was found to have gas swelling in her bowel - the same issue Child I had two weeks previously when Letby allegedly attempted to kill her.
Less than a hour, later the child's monitor alarm sounded again.
A colleague found Letby standing by the child's incubator and wanted to intervene as Child I was "distressed", it was said.
Letby told the worker "they would be able to sort it", it was said.
Jurors were told Child I then collapsed and died after attempts to revive her, led by a registrar, were unsuccessful.
Mr Johnson said the alleged murder of the baby I was an "extreme example even by the standards of this overall case".
He added: "This is a case where we allege Lucy Letby tried four times to kill her. (Child I) was resilient but ultimately at the fourth attempt Lucy Letby succeeded and killed her."
'SPHERE OF LETBY'
The court was also told today that Letby twice targeted a baby girl - Child H - when she was five and six days old.
Jurors heard the tot's case is complicated by the "suboptimal treatment Child H received at the start of her life".
But Mr Johnson said there were still "two occasions when Lucy Letby tried to kill Child H" on September 26, 2015, and the following night.
As the baby was being given treatment in the ICU section of the ward, Letby "would have had the cover of legitimacy for accessing her intravenous lines just before she collapsed", it was said.
Soon after, the court was told she suffered a collapse and needed a full resuscitation - although the cause was "unclear".
The following night, Letby was not Child H's designated nurse but was seen by a registrar activating a special resuscitator for babies called a neopuff to help her breathe when her oxygen levels dropped, jurors heard.
She was transferred to a different hospital on September 27 where it was said there was a "dramatic improvement".
Mr Johnson said: "As soon as children were removed from the Countess of Chester Hospital, and the sphere of Lucy Letby, they often suddenly and remarkably recovered."
'TRUST ME, I'M A NURSE'
The court was told around a week after Child H's second collapse, Letby searched for her mum on social media.
She also allegedly looked up the dad of twin children E and F and the mother of Child I on her day off.
Jurors heard previously how Child E was allegedly murdered by an injection of air into the bloodstream.
The court was told the baby's mum had visited him on August 3, 2015, in the neo-natal unit where she found him "distressed" and bleeding from the mouth.
Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said: "We say that she interrupted Lucy Letby who was attacking (Child E), although she did not realise it at the time."
The mum told how Letby attempted to reassure her by saying a registrar would review the youngster's condition and she should leave the unit.
She told her "Trust me, I'm a nurse" - but Mr Johnson told the court this was the mum being "fobbed off" by Letby.
'MALEVOLENT PRESENCE'
Jurors were told the next day, Letby allegedly used insulin for the first time to attempt to kill his twin brother, Child F.
The court heard previously how Letby, who had special training in caring for ICU babies, was a "constant malevolent presence".
She is accused of murdering five boys and two girls, and the attempted murder of another five boys and five girls.
Some of the newborns were repeatedly targeted by the nurse - including one baby Letby is alleged to have killed after three previous failed attempts.
Consultants at the hospital grew suspicious of the "significant rise" in the number of babies dying or suffering "catastrophic" collapses.
Jurors were told they found Letby was the "one common denominator" among the deaths and collapses.
She denies all 22 charges, which are said to have taken place between June 2015 and June 2016.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More on The Sun
A court order prohibits identifying the surviving and deceased children and prohibits identifying parents or witnesses connected with the babies.
The trial continues.
