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Lucy Letby: ‘I was expected to lie’ after leaving neonatal unit

Nurse accused of murdering seven babies tells court she had to pretend she wanted to move after ‘devastating’ allegations
Lucy Letby pictured on a Facebook page

Nurse accused of murdering seven babies tells court she had to pretend she wanted to move after ‘devastating’ allegations

Lucy Letby pictured on a Facebook page
Lucy Letby pictured on a Facebook page Picture: Shutterstock

A nurse accused of murdering seven babies said she was ‘expected to lie’ about what was going on when she was moved off nursing duties.

Lucy Letby is alleged to have murdered seven babies and attempted to murder ten others while on duty at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.

Giving her fifth day of evidence at Manchester Crown Court on 17 May, Ms Letby told her defence barrister Ben Myers KC it was ‘really hurtful’ when she was moved from the unit to an office role in July 2016.

Letby denies she did anything to harm babies in her care

She said: ‘I was being isolated and expected to lie about things that were going on. I had to pretend that I wanted to leave the unit and wanted to work in a different area.

Ms Letby launched a grievance procedure in September 2016, the court heard. She said: ‘At this point I didn’t know what to do. It was having a massive impact on all aspects of my life. It was emotionally very difficult. I was lonely, I was worried, I didn’t know what was going on.’

She told the court it was ‘devastating’ when she learned of allegations that she had harmed children in her care. ‘It was beyond comprehension, I couldn’t understand how it was happening,’ she said.

When asked if she could ‘cope with it’ and had ‘done anything to hurt anybody’, she replied: ‘No’.

She also said there was no truth in allegations she had deliberately harmed babies or intended to kill them.

The court heard that a total of 257 nursing shift handover sheets containing some of the names of Ms Letby’s alleged victims were found during police searches following her arrest in July 2018.

Letby says nursing shift handover sheets found at her home were ‘held in confidence’

She agreed with prosecutor Nick Johnson KC that taking such sheets out of the hospital was not normal practice and they should be discarded in confidential waste – but there were times when they had ‘come home with me in my pocket’.

Ms Letby also told Mr Johnson she did not take them home with the intention of keeping them and said she had a responsibility to keep sensitive and personal data confidential.

Mr Johnson said: ‘What would have happened in a disciplinary sense if the hospital management knew you had 250-odd handover sheets at home?’

Ms Letby said: ‘I can’t answer that. I don’t know what the policy would be.’

Mr Johnson said: ‘You’re not bothered are you?

Ms Letby said: ‘It’s not that I’m not bothered. They were at my home address but they were still held in confidence.’

Mr Johnson said: ‘What, in a bin bag in your garage?’

Ms Letby said: ‘I am the only person that lives at the property, so yes.’

Handover sheets were also found at her parents’ house in Hereford, the court heard. Mr Johnson argued they were ‘not held in confidence’ but Ms Letby said she did not believe anyone would have looked at them because her parents did not enter her bedroom.

Letby says blame for baby deaths was pinned on her to cover up hospital failings

Ms Letby told her trail on 18 May that she felt four consultants had pinned the blame for the baby deaths on her to cover up hospital failings.

She named four consultants – Dr Stephen Brearey, Dr John Gibbs, Dr Ravi Jayaram and one other doctor who cannot be named for legal reasons – as those who had ‘conspired’ against her.

Earlier, Mr Johnson had suggested Ms Letby was the only ‘common feature’ in all the incidents and therefore had to be the only person responsible for harming the babies.

Ms Letby said she did not agree and that just because she was on shift at the time of the incidents did not mean she had done anything.

Ms Letby denies all the allegations. The trial continues.


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