Lucy Letby's home littered with 'clues' including papers she shouldn't have had

22 August 2023 , 14:59

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Police at the home of Lucy Letby in Chester in July 2018 (Image: PA)

The home of baby murderer Lucy Letby was full of clues used by police and prosecutors to convict the twisted nurse of killing seven babies and attempting to kill six more.

Her house in Chester was littered with disturbing notes and official documents kept by Letby, many of which related to the babies she was later found to have attacked as she worked on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Following her arrest officers carried out a careful search and found a wealth of papers that helped build the case against her.

The words "I don't deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough to care for them," were found scribbled on post-it note, alongside the admission: "I am a horrible evil person" and in capital letters "I am evil I did this".

These disturbing glimpses into Letby’s psyche came alongside bags of official hospital documents she had hoarded under her bed and in her garage.

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Lucy Letby's bedroom (PA)

A note of medications given to a baby boy as he fought back from the brink of death was also among items found under Letby's bed, the Liverpool Echo reports. The record of emergency drugs provided to the infant was written on a paper towel during his 30-minute resuscitation at the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit. Letby, 33, gave rescue breaths to the youngster, Child M, after she responded to his cot monitor alarm. Earlier she had injected air into Child M's bloodstream and also poisoned his twin brother, Child L, with insulin.

She denied she kept it as a souvenir of her attack. The paper towel and a blood gas reading for Child M were both found in a Morrisons bag in Letby's bedroom following her arrest. Also in the same bag was a number of shift handover sheets which also should not have left the hospital. Letby had a total of 257 such sheets in her possession which contained the names of children cared for on a given shift.

Twenty-one of the sheets included the names of babies she was said to have harmed. Letby denied she had purposely collected them. Giving evidence, she said: "They have no meaning to me at all. I have copious pieces of paper and cards that I have not thrown away my whole life." Jurors heard some of the sheets were found in a bin bag in the garage at her home in Westbourne Road, Chester. However, one was found in "pristine condition" dated June 1 2010 - her first day of work as a student at the neonatal unit.

A black bin bag which was found by police in the garage at Letby's home, containing a handwritten note (PA)

It was found inside a keepsafe box with roses on it, the court heard. Letby denied getting a "thrill" out of photographing a sympathy card she sent to the parents of a baby girl ahead of the youngster's funeral. She retained the image on her mobile phone which was taken on the unit where she murdered the infant, Child I, weeks earlier. The nurse told police: "I often take pictures of any cards that I have sent, even birthday cards - anything like that. I often take pictures of them.

"It was upsetting losing (Child I) and I think it was nice to remember the kind words that I hoped I'd shared with that family. Letby wrote on the card: "There are no words to make this time any easier. It was a real priviledge (sic) to care for (Child I) and get to know you as a family - a family who always put (Child I) first and did everything possible for her. "She will always be a part of your lives and we will never forget her. Thinking of you today and always - sorry I cannot be there to say goodbye. Lots of love Lucy x."

A Morrisons carrier bag found by police in Lucy Letby's bedroom (PA)

Another image captured on her phone was a thank you card brought in by the parents of twin boys who were unaware that Letby had murdered one and attempted to murder the other. Letby also denied she was "checking up" on the parents of her victims by searching them on Facebook. She said: "They're just people that have crossed my mind at that time. It's general curiosity that I look at a lot of people. It's a common pattern of behaviour for me. I think of somebody and I look them up."

Meanwhile a search of the garage at the Westbourne Road property on June 10 revealed another handwritten note found in a black bin bag. Phrases on the note included "killing me softly", "broken hearted" and "no-one will ever know what happened or why". Letby wept during the trial when the pictures were shared with the jury.

Lucy Letby's bedroom at Westbourne Road, Chester (PA)

She will spend the rest of her life in jail for her "cruel, calculated and cynical campaign" of murder and attempted murder of babies at the hospital where she worked. The most prolific child serial killer in modern British history was told by judge Mr Justice Goss there was a "malevolence bordering on sadism in your actions" for which "you have no remorse".

The judge handed her a whole-life order at Manchester Crown Court on Monday August 21, for each offence, making her only the fourth woman in UK history to be told she will never be released from prison. Addressing the nurse, who refused to appear in court, he said: "You acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies and in gross breach of the trust that all citizens place in those who work in the medical and caring professions. The babies you harmed were born prematurely and some were at risk of not surviving, but in each case you deliberately harmed them, intending to kill them."

Ellen Kirwin