Lucy Letby trial – ‘I am evil, I did this’: Read the ‘confession note’ written by nurse accused of murdering seven babies
A neonatal nurse accused of murdering seven babies left a handwritten note that read “I am evil. I did this”.
On day four of Lucy Letby’s trial at Manchester crown court, the prosecutor Nick Johnson KC told jurors about a series of notes that the police found.
Lucy Letby’s defence barrister said that the note “does not accurately reflect” what had happened
On one green Post-it note, which was shown to the court, she had written: “I don’t deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them.”
She also wrote: “I am a horrible evil person” and: “I AM EVIL I DID THIS”.
Read latest developments from court
Lucy Letby is accused of killing and attempting to kill babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital where she worked
Letby, 32, from Hereford, is accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder ten others at the Countess of Chester Hospital. She denies all the charges.
‘I’ll never marry or have children’ – Letby
Her defence barrister said she was “adamant” she had not harmed any children and said the note was written by an “anguished woman in despair” who was realising the enormity of what is facing her. It said that the note was written when Letby was facing disciplinary proceedings at work.
A line in the note, which was shown to the court, said Letby has an “overwhelming fear… I’ll never have children or marry… I will never know what it’s like to have a family… despair.”
Ben Myers KC, defending Letby, said that the note “does not accurately reflect” what had happened, but was written by Letby as she “poured her feelings onto paper as a way of coping”.
He blamed “inadequate” standards of care at the Countess of Chester Hospital and said at least one of the deaths was an “inevitable” outcome given the child’s prematurity.
In the case of Child J, who was born with a perforated and necrotic bowel, he said that the hospital was “well out of its depth” when it came to treating the infant.
He concluded his opening statement by saying: “This whole case is a complex case, it is not straightforward. And in that dock is a young woman who says this is not her fault.”
The children and their families are not being named by the media and are referred as Children A to Q.
Read more:
Lucy Letby trial: Day three
Child P, was one of two triplets the prosecution claims were killed by Letby. Their brother survived because he was in another room.
A day after Child P died, Child Q was attacked by Letby, the prosecution said.
Mr Johnson said Letby falsified medical records to give herself an alibi at the time of Child Q’s sudden collapse.
Apart from three days the following week, this was to be the last time Letby would work at the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Doctors grew suspicious about ‘cold-blooded’ Letby
“Cold-blooded” Letby tried to kill one “resilient” girl four times “before succeeding”, the court was told.
The nurse was also questioned by police about why she had sent a sympathy card to the baby’s parents.
By April 2016, consultants at the hospital had grown suspicious of Letby – moving her off night shifts because of concerns about the “correlation between her presence and unexpected deaths/life-threatening episodes”.
One consultant began to feel “uncomfortable” when he realised Letby was alone with a child. When he walked into the room, he noted that the infant’s breathing tube was dislodged.
“We alleged she was trying to kill Child K when the paediatric consultant walked in on her,” Mr Johnson told the court.
The trial continues.
A Romanian grooming gang has been convicted of sexually exploiting 10 vulnerable women in Dundee.
Four men and one woman were found guilty of dozens of offences – including rape – following an extensive investigation into sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and the supply of drugs in the Tayside area.
Marian Cumpanasoiu, 37, Remus Stan, 34, Catalin Dobre, 44, Cristian Urlateanu, 41, and Alexandra Bugonea, 34, denied any wrongdoing but on Thursday were convicted following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
Detective Inspector Scott Carswell branded the offenders “deplorable” in an interview with Sky News’ Scotland correspondent, Connor Gillies.
The detective said the gang plied the women with alcohol and free Class A drugs at parties before coercing them into sexual activity, “which a lot of them didn’t want to do”.
He said: “But as things progressed, they were so addicted to the drugs that they knew the only way they could get the drugs was to perform the sexual acts that they were having to get involved in.”
Detective Inspector Scott Carswell
DI Carswell said the gang got the women addicted to drugs in a bid to control them and keep them coming back for more.
He added: “They’ve had no thought as to the impact this is having on the victims. It’s been quite controlled in that they knew what they were doing.”
The gang will be sentenced at a later date.
Police Scotland said the offenders were arrested and charged as part of Operation Recloir, which was launched in late 2021 to target a gang of suspected human traffickers in the Tayside area.
DI Carswell said the inquiry initially focused on brothel-keeping in Dundee and the suspected trafficking of Romanian females into the country.
He added: “However, into the summer of 2022 we started to receive information that the crime group were targeting vulnerable Dundee females, and it looked like they were grooming them and coercing them with gifts of free drugs and other things until it moved on to the victims having to get involved in sexual activity to get the free drugs.
“And unfortunately, this got them addicted to the class A drugs that had been provided.”
DI Carswell said many of the victims identified believed they were the girlfriends of the men involved and did not realise they were being “groomed and used”.
The detective said the women were looking to be “cared for”, noting: “However, I believe that the end goal here was to groom the females and possibly move them into prostitution.”
Read more from Sky News:
Timeline of the grooming gangs scandal
Grooming gangs are ‘in every single part of our country’
DI Carswell said it was important to build up the victims’ “trust and confidence” in order to get them to engage with the force.
He said: “That did take a lot of patience, and it was something that I was passionate about with my inquiry team from the start.”
DI Carswell added work remains ongoing to ensure the women’s welfare and long-term safeguarding.
The detective believes his team identified all the victims, but not everyone wished to engage with the inquiry.
DI Carswell added: “What I would say to them is even at this time if they don’t want to engage with the police, the support’s always there if they need help with anything on the back of this.”
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