Posted 18 October 2022 - 17:00
Posted 18 October 2022 - 17:00
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Lucy Letby told nurse: ‘It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do’
Murder trial hears details of nurse Lucy Letby’s texts to colleagues and social media searches for babies’ parents hours after first alleged murder
Murder trial hears details of nurse Lucy Letby’s texts to colleagues and social media searches for babies’ parents hours after first alleged murder
Lucy Letby said it was ‘the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do’ when she took the body of a newborn baby to a mortuary as his father cried on the floor, a court has heard.
Lucy Letby looked baby’s mother up on Facebook hours after first alleged murder
The neonatal nurse is on trial at Manchester Crown Court where she denies the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of ten others between June 2015 and June 2016 while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Ms Letby messaged a colleague about the death of her first alleged victim in June 2015, the jury has heard.
She is said to have murdered Child A on the evening of 8 June by injecting air into his bloodstream and then allegedly attempted to murder his twin sister, Child B, by the same method on the following night shift.
On 18 October, the jury of eight women and four men was shown a series of messages the defendant exchanged with other staff members, along with activity on her social media accounts.
Less than two hours after she finished the shift during which Child A died she made a Facebook search for Child A’s mother, the court heard.
The next day, before her shift started, she replied to a fellow nurse who asked if she was OK.
Ms Letby responded: ‘I think we all did everything we possibly could under very difficult and sad circumstances. Haven’t had much sleep. Don’t really want to see parents but it’s got to be done.
‘I said to [another nurse] that I can’t look after [Child B] because I just don’t know how I’m going to feel seeing parents. Dad was on the floor crying saying: “Please don’t take our baby away” when we took him to the mortuary. It’s just heart-breaking.
‘It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Hopefully have a more positive one tonight.’
Colleague’s text after Baby A’s death: ‘there was something odd about that night’
Hours later Child B collapsed while Ms Letby was on duty, she later stabilised and was eventually discharged the following month, the court was told.
Another online search for the twins’ mother was made on Ms Letby’s Facebook account on 10 June and again on 25 June.
The Crown also says Ms Letby went on to murder Child C on 14 June and Child D on 22 June 2015.
Five days later Ms Letby messaged a colleague to say that Child B had moved to a recovery room in the unit following her collapse earlier in the month.
Her colleague said: ‘There’s something odd about that night and the other three that went so suddenly.’ Ms Letby asked: ‘What do you mean? Odd that we lost three and in different circumstances?’ The colleague replied: ‘Were they that different? Ignore me, I’m speculating.’
Ms Letby said: ‘Well [Child C] was tiny, obviously compromised in utero. [Child D] septic. It’s [Child A] I can’t get my head round.’
Repeated social media searches for babies’ parents
Ms Letby is then alleged to have murdered Child E on 4 August 2015 and then tried to kill his twin brother, Child F, the next day.
On 9 September, Ms Letby again searched for Child A and B’s mother on Facebook. Ten days later she asked a colleague about the parents of Child A and B.
A court order prohibits reporting of the identities of children allegedly harmed by Ms Letby, and also prohibits identifying parents or witnesses connected with the children.
Ms Letby denies all charges. The trial began on 10 October and is expected to last six months.
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