Killer nurse Lucy Letby murdered babies knowing doctor she ‘loved’ would come help – after pair sent ‘flirty’ messages
It is feared that LUCY Letby carried out her year-long killing spree to attract the attention of a married doctor with whom she is accused of having an affair.
The 33-year-old nurse, who was found guilty of murdering babies today, is said to have developed an obsession with the male registrar and scrawled notes in her bedroom that read: “I loved you.”
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When police first arrested her in July 2018, they found the messages scattered around her home and even hidden in her diary.
Letby, who lived alone with her cats at her semi-detached house in Chester, Cheshire, wrote: “Please help me, please help me (doctor’s name). I entrusted everything to you. (Doctor’s name) I loved you.”
In another, she said, “(Doctor’s name) my best friend.”
Next to the registrar’s name, she wrote, “I can’t do this anymore.”
While she was working on the ward, Letby was accused by a fellow nurse of “flirting” with the paramedic, who cannot be named for legal reasons, her trial said.
She exchanged several Facebook messages with him on the same day baby O died, before murdering his triplet brother 24 hours later.
During her trial, prosecutor Nick Johnson asked KC, “Were you trying to get his attention?”
Letby: “No.”
The attorney again pressed, “Is that why you sabotaged Baby O?”
Letby replied, “No.”
On June 23, 2016, her first shift back from her Ibiza vacation, she texted him, “Boo.”
He said he would return to the neonatal unit later in the day and offered to bring her some lunch.
Testifying on the witness stand for the last of her 14 days, the nurse hesitated when asked to read out an exchange of messages with him.
Mr Johnson had to question her twice before finally pointing to an emoji sent to her by the male registrar, whose name cannot be disclosed for legal reasons.
Letby said, “It’s a heart.”
She had responded to the doctor’s love heart with an emoji of her own combined with a smiling face emoji.
The court heard how Letby traveled to London once with the married doctor and should have gone a second time before the trip was cancelled.
She also met with him several times after being pulled from the unit for investigations.
In 2017, the pair spent a day at Cheshire Oaks designer outlet and also went for coffee at Starbucks.
A note found in the hospital’s patient safety office contained further references to the registrar.
It referenced “Tigger and Smudge” and then his name.
Another said: “I loved you but it wasn’t enough.”
When he testified, Letby denied any romantic relationship, but admitted, “Sometimes he would come over to my house, sometimes we would go out to eat or go for a walk.”
And she even broke down in tears for the first time when he testified.
The nurse’s emotional outburst came 16 weeks into her trial at Manchester Crown Court.
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It happened as soon as he started speaking behind a screen.
Letby was seen wiping tears from her eyes with tissues from a box next to her.
She got up in the dock and was led to the cells as she needed a few minutes to compose herself.
The doctor’s statement related to baby L, one of several twins whom Letby allegedly injected with insulin.
The only other time Letby broke down in tears was in April when pictures of her bedroom were shown to the jury.
In a message exchange, the couple joked about calling in sick so they could go home.
Mr Johnson told Letby that in June 2016 a nurse friend accused her of being “cute” to the registrar in a series of WhatsApp messages.
It was a long pause before Letby replied in Manchester Crown Court: “There was nothing between me and the doctor.”
The lawyer pestered her and asked, “Did she think you were sweet to him?
Letby asked, “What do you mean?”
Mr Johnson replied: “Had a crush on him.”
She replied “No”.
In one exchange, alongside a laughing emoji, her pal suggested that the doctor would like to send her to “commando”.
Letby responded with four laughing emojis but said at her murder trial she didn’t know what the phrase meant.