Lucy Letby trial: Murder-accused nurse wrote 'I am evil', trial told

Lucy Letby, 32, of Hereford, denies 22 charges at Manchester Crown Court

A nurse accused of murdering babies on a neonatal ward wrote notes reading "I am evil" and "I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough", a court has heard.

Lucy Letby is charged with murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others at Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016.

Her trial at Manchester Crown Court was told the notes were found following a search of her home.

Ms Letby, 32, denies 22 charges.

The court heard the passages were written on post-it notes, and included phrases such as "what allegations have been made and by who? Do they have written evidence to support their comments?".

The notes also contained "many protestations of innocence," prosecutor Nick Johnson KC told the jury.

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One said: "I haven't done anything wrong and they have no evidence so why have I had to hide away?"

Other notes read "I am a horrible evil person", the court heard, and "I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough".

In one, in capital letters, Ms Letby wrote "I am evil. I did this," the jury was told.

The nurse's tightly-written notes were shown to the jury during the trial

The parents of some of the babies concerned were in court to hear the prosecution speech, and saw the note as it was shown on large screens.

Ms Letby, of Hereford, showed no reaction.

Mr Johnson said: "Well, ladies and gentlemen, that in a nutshell is your task in this case.

"Whether or not she did these dreadful things is the decision you will have to make when you have heard all the evidence."

Outlining Ms Letby's defence, Ben Myers KC, said "anyone with an ounce of human understanding" would see the notes as "the anguished outpouring of a young woman in fear and despair when she realises the enormity of what is being said about her".

He said they also contained passages such as "I'll never marry or have children" and "I haven't done anything wrong".

The notes showed "anguish not guilt", he said.

The court earlier heard Ms Letby is accused of murdering a baby referred to in court as Child P.

The baby boy was from a set of triplets and died 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?'", Mr Johnson said.

The baby collapsed and died shortly afterwards, the court heard.

Mr Johnson 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."

Ms Letby has denied causing Child P any deliberate harm.

The nurse is accused of injecting Child Q with excess air and a clear fluid, possibly water or saline, into his stomach through a nasogastric tube in a bid to murder him.

The baby was later transferred to another hospital, where he went on to make a "rapid recovery".

Mr Johnson said the child was another example whereby "investigations at the time could find nothing wrong" and when he was "moved out of Lucy Letby's orbit he made a rapid recovery".

Lucy Letby worked on the neonatal ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital

Mr Johnson said consultants eventually 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".

The prosecutor told jurors: "No doubt they were acutely aware that making such an allegation against a nurse was as serious as it gets.

"They did not, at the time, have the benefit of the evidence that you are going to hear and the decision was made by the hospital to remove Lucy Letby from a hands-on role.

"She was moved to clerical duties where she would not come into contact with children."

The police were contacted and a "very lengthy and complex" investigation followed which involved instructing independent paediatricians and other specialists to review many cases that passed through the neo-natal unit, the court heard.

Following that review, the decision was made to arrest Lucy Letby on 3 July 2018, said Mr Johnson.