London:
Police investigating a spate of baby deaths at a UK hospital found a note that read “I’m bad, I did this” in the home of a nurse accused of murdering them, the court was told on Wednesday .
Another read: “I don’t deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to take care of them. I’m a terribly bad person”.
Neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, 32, is on trial at Manchester Crown Court in the north west of England, charged with seven murders and 15 attempted murders.
The facts, which she denies, are said to have taken place between June 2015 and June 2016 at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester.
Prosecutor Nick Johnson said the notes were found among papers and other notes that also contain “many protests of innocence”.
He told jurors as he concluded his opening statement that Letby was given administrative duties when she was under suspicion for her arrest in July 2018.
A subsequent police search of her Chester home found documents related to many of the children who died or collapsed.
The note that read “I’m bad, I did this,” which was shown to the court, was written in capital letters.
The lawyer said other papers found indicated that Letby was frustrated at not being allowed to return to the neonatal ward and claims she was innocent.
“I didn’t do anything wrong and they have no proof, so why did I have to hide?” a read.
The trial, which started Monday and is expected to last six months, has been told Letby used various methods to attack the newborns.
They included insulin poisoning and injecting air into their bloodstream, causing them to stop breathing, the prosecution claimed.
Most babies were born prematurely, including twins and triplets. The youngest was just a day old.
The charges concern 17 children, none of whom can be named due to a court order. Some are said to have been attacked more than once.
Defense attorney Ben Myers, who represents Letby, told jurors it would be “utterly unfair” to convict his client without hearing any evidence.
He told them that the defense would argue that in some cases it was not clear why the child died or their condition deteriorated.
Letby was a “dedicated nurse” and only wanted to care for the babies she cared for, he said.
“The defense says she is not guilty of intentionally harming or killing a baby,” he added. “Anyone who approaches this as a foregone conclusion is very wrong.”
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