A nurse accused of murdering seven babies has denied having an affair with a married colleague after she was suspended from work.
Lucy Letby, 33, is accused of murdering the infants – and attempting to murder ten more – at the Countess of Chester’s Neonatal Unit between June 2015 and June 2016.
In June 2016 – the week after two triplet boys died, and another boy collapsed so dramatically he was sent to intensive care – Letby was suspended from the unit and sent to work in the patient safety department at the hospital.
She had previously told her trial she was “very isolated” from her friends on the unit and told she could only have contact with a limited number of people.
Letby murder trial live – as it happened
At Manchester Crown Court today, Letby was presented with a document, containing examples of her social life during this time. This included examples of her out drinking with former colleagues and going on days out with members of the unit, “drinking fizz” and “days at the races”.
One day she went to London with the male colleague she has previously denied was her boyfriend.
But text messages showed the pair exchanged a series of heart emojis as they made plans to meet up.
“[Colleague] was a married man, it’s not a relationship at all it’s a friendship,” she said.
During questioning, Letby later admitted she did have a boyfriend at this time but it was not identified if this was the same person.
The court has previously been told Letby “sabotaged” the infants in a bid to get this doctor’s attention.
Letby was asked by the prosecution if she was “looking for sympathy” when she told the jury she had been cut off and isolated from her friends.
“Yes, it was a very difficult time,” she said.
“You thought you’d get sympathy by telling a lie,” said Nick Johnson KC, for the prosecution.
“No,” she replied.
“Was it just a mistake?” asked Mr Johnson.
“Yes,” Letby said.
‘Lied’ about being taken away in pyjamas
Letby previously told the jury she was first arrested at 6am and taken away in her nightgown, but the prosecution said she was taken away in a blue Lee Cooper leisure suit.
“I don’t remember, I had a nightie on,” she said.
“Do you want me to show you a video of it?” asked Mr Johnson.
Letby replied: “No.”
The prosecution says Letby was not taken away in her pyjamas at all and Mr Johnson told the court Letby was a “very calculating woman” who “tells lies deliberately”.
“Why did you lie to the jury about it?” Mr Johnson asked.
“I don’t know,” she replied.
“The reason you tell lies is to try to get sympathy from people,” Mr Johnson later said.
“No,” Letby responded.
Mr Johnson then said: “Killing these children you got quite a lot of attention.”
“I didn’t kill these children,” Letby replied.
“You are getting quite a lot of attention now, aren’t you?” Mr Johnson continued.
She did not reply.
Letby ‘tried to cover her tracks’
Letby also denied trying to cover her tracks by damaging medical equipment three days before she was removed from the neonatal unit.
Shortly before being moved, she reported one child as being at risk of an accidental air embolism because the stoppers were left off his IV.
“You had your thinking cap on, didn’t you?” Mr Johnson asked, before saying Letby had “an insurance policy going on here”.
“No,” she replied.
“So you can suggest this was a hospital where things were so lax people left the bungs off the intravenous access for these children?” Mr Johnson asked.
“No, that’s what I found,” Letby replied.
During this time she began gathering evidence for her union representative, the court heard.
In one message to a colleague – who she later called her “best friend” – she wrote: ‘Hoping to get as much info together as possible – if they have nothing or minimal on me they’ll look silly, not Me.’
‘You are a murderer’: Prosecution ends
On Friday, the prosecution closed its case by looking at the notes Letby wrote in the wake of her suspension from the hospital.
One was addressed to the three triplet boys and read: ‘Today is your birthday and you aren’t here. And I am so sorry for that.’
“I am writing how I was feeling at that time, and it was their birthday and I mentioned all three of them,” Letby said.
“Why were you including [the other triplet]?” Mr Johnson asked.
“I’ve written three names, I also wrote [colleague].”
The prosecution asked the question again, to which Letby replied: “I can’t answer that.”
“Is that because in your mind there was a terminal end in store for [other triplet] if he stayed with you?” Mr Johnson asked.
“No,” she replied.
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“Was that your objective – to kill all three?” the lawyer continued.
Letby replied: “No.”
Letby denies all the charges against her.
The trial continues.
