Court hears possible motive for why nurse Lucy Letby murdered seven babies

A nurse who murdered seven babies was accused in court of going on her killing rampage for a bizarre reason.

The moment Lucy Letby was arrested at her home in Chester on July 3, 2018. (Photo by Cheshire Constabulary / AFP)

British killer nurse Lucy Letby carried out her year-long baby killing spree to get attention from a married doctor she’s accused of having an affair with.

The nurse, 33, who on Friday, UK time, was found guilty of murdering seven babies and trying to murder six others, was said to have formed an obsession with the male doctor, scrawling notes in her bedroom saying: “I loved you”.

The jury at Manchester Crown Court reached all of its verdicts after deliberating for 22 days.

Letby was found not guilty of two counts of attempted murder. While the jury could not decide on the attempted murder of a further four children.

She will be sentenced on Monday.

When police arrested her for the first time in July 2018 in England’s north west, they found the messages strewn around her home and even hidden inside her diary, The Sun reported.

British nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of murdering seven babies.

Letby, who lived alone with her cats at her semi-detached property in the city of Chester, in Cheshire on the Welsh border, wrote: “Please help me, please help me (doctor’s name). I trusted you with everything. (Doctor’s name) I loved you”.

In another she said: “(Doctor’s name), my best friend”.

Next to the doctor’s name, she had scrawled: “I can’t do this anymore”.

Letby had been accused of “flirting” with the medic, who cannot be named for legal reasons, by a nursing colleague while working on the unit, her trial heard.

She swapped multiple Facebook messages with him on the same day as one of the children – known as Baby O died – before murdering his triplet brother 24 hours later.

During her trial, prosecutor Mr Nick Johnson KC: “Did you want to get his attention?”

“No,” replied Letby.

The barrister pressed again: “Is that the reason you sabotaged Baby O?”

Letby replied: “No“.

She was accused of having a crush on a doctor at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester where the killings happened. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

On June 23, 2016, her first shift back after her holiday to the Spanish island of Ibiza, she sent him a message saying: “Boo”.

He said he would be returning to the neonatal ward later that day and offered to bring her some lunch.

Giving evidence on the last of her 14 days in the witness box, the nurse hesitated when asked to read out a message exchange with him.

Mr Johnson had to prompt her twice before she finally referred to an emoji the male doctor sent her.

Letby said: “It’s a heart”.

She had responded to the doctor’s love heart with one of her own, combined with a smiling face emoji.

The court heard how on one occasion Letby went to London with the married doctor and had been due to go a second time before the trip was cancelled.

She also met up with him several times after she’d been pulled from the unit pending an investigation.

The moment Lucy Letby was arrested at her home in Chester on July 3, 2018. (Photo by Cheshire Constabulary / AFP)

In 2017 the pair enjoyed a day out at the Cheshire Oaks designer outlet, close to Chester, and also went for coffee at Starbucks.

A note, found at the hospital’s patient safety office, bore further references to the doctor.

It referred to “Tigger and Smudge” and then his name.

Another said: “I loved you but it wasn’t enough”.

Giving evidence, Letby denied any romantic involvement but admitted: “Sometimes he would come to my house, sometimes we would go out for meals or walks”.

And she even broke down in tears for the first time the moment he gave evidence.

The nurse’s emotional outburst came 16 weeks into her trial at Manchester crown court.

It happened as soon as he began to speak from behind a screen.

Letby was seen wiping tears from her eyes with tissues from a box beside her.

She stood up in the dock and was led to the cells as she needed a few minutes to compose herself.

The doctor’s evidence related to Baby L, one of a set of twins who Letby is alleged to have injected with insulin.

Lucy Letby qualified as a children's nurse from The University of Chester in 2011.

She denied all the charges against her.

The only other time Letby broke down in tears was in April when the jury were shown pictures of her bedroom.

In one message exchange, the pair joked about reporting in sick so they could go home.

Mr Johnson put it to Letby that a nurse pal accused her of being “sweet” on the doctor in a series of WhatsApp messages in June 2016.

There was a long pause before Letby replied at Manchester crown court: “There was nothing between me and the doctor”.

The barrister pressed her, asking: “Did she think you were sweet on him?

Letby asked: “What do you mean?”

Mr Johnson replied: “Had a crush on him”.

She responded “no“.

In one exchange, her pal suggested alongside a laughing emoji that the doctor would like her to “go commando”.

Letby replied with four laughing emojis but told her murder trial she didn’t know what the phrase meant.

This story appeared in The Sun and is reproduced with permission.