Lucy Letby 'excited' to tell nurse baby had died

Lucy Letby was a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital

Lucy Letby once told a colleague about the death of a child in an "excited" and "gossipy" way, a inquiry has heard.

Giving evidence at the Thirlwall Inquiry, Melanie Taylor said she could not remember which baby's death Letby was referring to, but recalled how she spoke about it.

She said: "It was almost in a way that she was excited to tell me, almost in a gossipy manner."

The inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall is examining how the killer nurse was able to murder and attack babies at the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016.

Rachel Langdale KC, counsel to the inquiry, asked Ms Taylor if the way Letby spoke about the baby's death struck her as unusual or disrespectful.

Ms Taylor said: "Yes, it did. There were parts of [Letby's] personality that were a little strange to me, so I took that as a personality difference between me and her."

The inquiry also heard about text messages Letby had written about the death of a baby who was later found to be one of her victims.

Ms Taylor said the message showed a "lack of compassion".

In the messages, Letby said she wanted to get back to the nursery where the boy died to get over the death.

Her colleague replied Letby needed to "let it go or it'll eat you up".

Letby said: "I need to go back and have a sick baby [to take care of], otherwise the image of the one you've lost never leaves you."

Lady Justice Thirlwall is chairing the inquiry, which is being held at Liverpool Town Hall

Ms Taylor told the inquiry she had never heard of going back to the unit where a death occurred as way of dealing with or getting over trauma.

When asked what she thought about Letby wanting to go back to the nursery where the baby had died, Ms Taylor said it was "highly inappropriate", adding: "The text messages I've seen show a lack of compassion."

Ms Taylor told the inquiry she did not have any suspicions at the time that Letby could be harming babies.

"That's an unthinkable thing in a way.

"Nursing is a profession where you put your trust in each other, and I mean this is not an event that happens in anybody's lifetime."

Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after being convicted of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.

The inquiry is expected to sit until early next year, with findings published by late autumn 2025.

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