Lucy Letby ‘killed babies to get attention from doctor she was infatuated with’

Lucy Letby attacked and killed babies in her care to gain the sympathy of a married doctor with whom she had become “infatuated”, the court was told.

Prosecuting counsel said she had become so obsessed with the medic, who cannot be named for legal reasons, that she attacked the children at Countess of Chester Hospital to make herself the centre of his attention and focus. 

The extraordinary explanation for why Letby committed her appalling crimes was denied by the 33-year-old nurse throughout the trial.

She insisted they were simply close friends, but one of the few occasions during the trial when she became visibly upset was when he walked into the courtroom to give evidence.

Letby was so distressed by the sight of the harmless-looking doctor that she tried to leave the dock and only agreed to continue after a short, hushed conversation with her solicitor. 

The reason for that extreme reaction, prosecutors said, was that Letby was “infatuated” with him.

A raft of messages between the pair, and from Letby to her friends, shown to the court shed light on the increasingly intense nature of their friendship.

In the hours before Letby attempted to murder Baby N in June 2016, she told a friend she had received a “strange” message from the male colleague.

The nurse colleague responded: “Did you? Saying what?” followed by a second message that read: “Go commando?” with a laughing emoji.

A few messages later, Letby answered her friend’s “commando” reference with four laughing emojis. 

Under cross-examination, she insisted she had no idea what the term “going commando” meant.

Later in the messages, the friend said “thinks he likes you too”, and wondered whether the doctor was being “as flirty as you”.

Letby responded: “Shut up!”, before adding: “I don’t flirt with him ... certainly don’t fancy him, ha ha, just nice guy.”

Shortly after, Letby travelled to Ibiza for a week-long holiday before she returned to the Countess of Chester and attacked Baby O twice, on her first shift back on June 23 2016.

Prosecutors accused her of deliberately sabotaging the child to get the doctor’s attention because she was “missing him” after her time away.

Later that same evening, after Baby O had been resuscitated, the pair exchanged messages on Facebook.

“I was glad you were there, everything felt safe. Thank you for looking out for me,” he told her.

She replied: “Don’t need to thank me. I’m pleased you were there. I think we work well together. Sorry for my loss of composure moment.”

The doctor then agrees they work well together before saying he is “glad she can talk to him”.

Less than 24 hours later, Letby attempted to murder Baby O’s twin brother, Baby P. Following the collapse, another doctor recalled Letby being “very keen” for Letby’s crush to be called immediately.

Nick Johnson KC, prosecuting, asked: “Did you enjoy being in these crisis situations with [the doctor]? Did it give you something to talk about and message about, something common you could share?”

“No,” said Letby. “[The doctor] and I were friends.”

After Letby was removed from the ward in July 2016, the couple continued to meet up on at least five occasions in late May and early June 2017.

They met for coffee at Starbucks and for a meal at an American-themed restaurant close to the River Dee in Chester.

They went shopping together and spent time together in Hartford, a small town 16 miles away. 

They also went to London together on June 8 2017, and the jury was shown text messages between them arranging to meet up later that day, which they both signed off with a love heart.

A handwritten note found after her arrest read: “My best friend. Love. I loved you and I think you knew that. I wanted you to stand by me but you didn’t.”

During cross-examination, Letby was asked why she had tried to leave the dock when the doctor walked into court.

“Because I felt unwell,” she replied.

Mr Johnson immediately snapped back: “No, you didn’t like hearing your boyfriend give evidence, did you?”

“That’s not fair”, Letby said, looking at the floor.