Lucy Letby trial: Nurse's notes found in home search released

Lucy Letby denies murdering and attempting to murder babies

Images of notes found at the home of nurse Lucy Letby, which her trial has heard contained phrases such as "I killed them" and "I am evil", have been released.

The handwritten notes were recovered by officers when Ms Letby was first arrested on 3 July 2018.

The 33-year-old is currently on trial accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

She has denied all the charges.

Ms Letby, originally from Hereford, faces 22 charges in total relating to fatal and near-fatal incidents in 2015 and 2016.

On Monday, Manchester Crown Court was told the notes were filled with closely-written words and included declarations of love for a colleague, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Also written on the papers were the phrases "help me", "I can't do this any more" and "how can life be this way?".

Jurors were also told police recovered a 2016 diary from a chest of drawers, which contained a reference to "twins" on the date two twin boys prosecutors have claimed Ms Letby attempted to murder were born.

The handwritten documents were found following Ms Letby's arrest in July 2018

The discoveries included numerous notes and papers and a diary

Further entries included initial letters which the prosecution have said related to three other babies that Ms Letby allegedly attacked after returning from a holiday to Ibiza.

The court was told a green note found inside the diary read "I don't deserve to live".

It also included the wording "I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough to care for them", "I am a horrible evil person" and, in capital letters, "I am evil I did this".

The diary also contained an A4 piece of paper containing similarly jumbled handwritten notes.

One sentence on it read: "I killed them. I don't know if I killed them. Maybe I did. Maybe this is down to me."

"Kill me" was also written in bold and circled on the sheet, while other words and phrases included "foreign objects", "slander", "tired", "crime number", "diagnosis compromised", "risk factors" and, repeatedly, "help me".

The nurse's tightly-written note, which was previously laid before the court, was shown to the jury

In his opening speech, Ben Myers KC, defending, told jurors the green note was the "anguished outpouring of a young woman".

He added Ms Letby was "in fear and despair" at the time, as she realised the "enormity" of what was being said "about her, in the moment, to herself".

The case continues.