Lucy Letby told fellow nurse it was ‘all a bit much’ after ‘murdering a second baby’

Lucy Letby told a fellow nurse it was ‘all a bit much’ after allegedly killing a second baby, a court heard today.

The 32-year-old is charged with killing the premature baby, known as Child C, just days after he killed Child A and attempted to kill his twin sister, Child B, in June 2015.

After the death, a colleague sent her a message saying it was ‘strange’ that three babies had died suddenly, Manchester Crown Court heard today.

Child C, who weighed 800 grams, collapsed while Letby was on night shift and died on June 14 just before 6 a.m., the court heard.

Today, the jury was shown messages Letby sent to friends after she finished her shift that morning.

In a message to colleague Jennifer Jones-Key, she said, “Sorry if I was absent, it just wasn’t a good start to the shift, but unfortunately it got worse.”

She went on to say, “I had a hard time accepting what happened to (Kind A). Now we (Child C) are lost overnight and it’s all a bit much.’

She described the death as “so sad and cruel” and told Ms. Jones-Key, “I just keep seeing them both. No one should see and do what we do. It’s heartbreaking.’

She added: “It’s not about me or anyone else, it’s those poor parents who have to walk away without their baby. It’s so unbelievably sad.’

Later that same evening, a co-worker responds to Letby telling her about Baby C’s death: “Damn it. Infection? tight week. How’s (Baby) B’.

Letby said she didn’t know how he died and added: “Optiflow is doing well. Then collapsed. Everything happened very quickly. Sophie had it and is devastated’.

The other nurse asked, ‘As fast as A? Yeah, shit week.

John and Susan Letby, parents of Lucy Letby, arrive at Manchester Crown Court on Friday 21 October for their daughter’s murder trial

Child C, who weighed 800 grams, collapsed while Letby was on night shift and died on June 14 just before 6 a.m., the court heard.

Letby also messaged her mother, Susan, that morning, saying, “We lost a little one overnight. Very unexpected and sad.’

Her mother replied: ‘Ah, sorry to hear that xxx’

The neonatal nurse went on to tell her: “He weighed 800 grams. Sophie, the new girl, took care of him. She was devastated.”

A few minutes later, her mother replied, “Ah, so sad. Try beeping. We are so proud of you xxx

Letby later messaged Mrs. Ellis and told her, ‘We’re a good team and we’ll figure it out. You did that so well.’

She sent a message to another colleague to tell her about child C’s death and said, “It all happened very quickly.”

She went on to say, “There are no words, it’s been terrible.”

Just before 4 p.m. on the day of child C’s death, Letby searched his parents’ names on Facebook, the court heard.

Letby, 32, of Hereford, is on trial for the alleged murder of seven babies at Countess of Chester Hospital, Cheshire, and the attempted murder of a further 10 between 2015 and 2016. She denies all charges.

The jury was told that another baby, child D, died on the ward later that month.

On June 30, Letby and a colleague exchanged messages about Child B’s condition.

Her colleague said, “There’s something strange about that night and the other three that went so suddenly.”

Letby replied, “What do you mean?”

She added: ‘Well (Child C) was small, obviously affected in utero, (Child D) septic. It’s (Child A) that I can’t keep up with.’

Originally from Hereford, Letby denies the murders of seven babies and the attempted murder of 10 others at Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

A court order prohibits reporting the identities of surviving and dead children allegedly attacked by Letby, and also prohibits identifying any parents or witnesses associated with the children.

The process continues.