Handwritten notes allegedly penned by a nurse accused of murdering seven babies in her care were shown in court on the fourth day of her trial in England.
Lucy Letby, 32, denies the 22 charges against her—which include another 10 attempted murders of babies in her care—while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester, northwest England, between 2015 and 2016.
“I AM EVIL,” read one of the post-it notes allegedly written by Letby and found by police. “I DID THIS.” Another screed read: “I don’t deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough. I am a horrible evil person.”
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One sheet of paper scrawled with writing included the phrase “Hope, Panic and Fear,” alongside another message saying: “I will never have children or marry.” A separate document shown to jurors on Thursday had the word “HATE” on it, alongside messages including: “There are no words…” “I can’t breathe,” and “Kill.”
Prosecutors say Letby carried out a killing spree which saw her murder babies by injecting them with substances including insulin, milk, and air. On Wednesday, Manchester Crown Court heard that the mother of one of her victims walked in on Letby as she was killing the baby, only to placate the parent with the phrase: “Trust me, I’m a nurse.”
On Thursday, the court heard that Letby allegedly photographed two of three triplets lying dead together in a cot after killing them by injecting them with air.
The court also heard that she then spent time comforting the parents of the victims, known only as Child O and Child P. In a conversation with Letby before Child P died, one doctor predicted that he would survive. The nurse allegedly replied: “He’s not leaving here alive, is he?”
“That remark surprised [the doctor] but Lucy Letby’s prediction came true,” prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said. “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.”
Letby also allegedly tried to kill their sibling, Child N, three times over the course of 12 days, but did not succeed.
She was also accused of attempting to murder Child Q by injecting excess air and a clear fluid—possibly saline or water—into his stomach through a nose tube. After the infant was transferred to a different hospital he made a “rapid recovery,” Johnson said.
Defense attorney Ben Myers KC, said “anyone with an ounce of human understanding” would see that the notes presented in court were “the anguished outpouring of a young woman in fear and despair when she realizes the enormity of what is being said about her.” The writings were “anguish not guilt,” he claimed.
