Lucy Letby wrote ‘I am evil’ on 'confession note' on advice of counsellors to deal with 'extreme stress', reports claim
4 September 2024, 09:50 | Updated: 4 September 2024, 11:21
A sticky note containing killer nurse Lucy Letby's alleged ‘I am evil’ confession was written on the advice of a hospital counsellor, it has been claimed.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
During Letby's first two trials, jurors were told the note was an apparent confession that should be read "literally".
However, new evidence appears to show the note - which formed a key part of the prosecution's evidence during her first trial - was in fact written on the advice of medical professionals.
After two trials and two attempts to appeal, Letby, 34, was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others in July of this year following a second trial at Manchester Crown Court.
The crimes were said to have taken place during a stint working in the Countess of Chester Hospital's neo-natal unit between 2015 and 2016.
But now The Guardian has revealed that the head of occupational health and wellbeing at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Kathryn de Beger, encouraged Letby to write the sticky note used as key evidence in the trial.
It's reported that the nurse wrote down her thoughts on the sticky note as was way of coping with "extreme stress".
It comes as Letby’s GP also reportedly advised her to write down the thoughts she was struggling with.
During the trial, Letby had previously claimed she wrote the note, which was discovered in her diary by police, when she was ‘panicking’ after being moved away from the hospital’s neonatal unit.
The post-it note in question contained the words: “I am evil I did this” - a supposed confession which the prosecution's case was built around.
Other scribbles on the small yellow note included: “I killed them on purpose because I am not good enough to care for them and I am a horrible evil person” and “hate".
Read more: Lucy Letby tells her retrial she never tried to harm any babies in her care
However, the same notes written by Letby also include comments including: “Not good enough”, “Why me?”, “I haven’t done anything wrong” and “Police investigation slander discrimination victimisation”.
Sources close to the case have now told the Guardian that the Countess of Chester hospital’s own head of occupational health and wellbeing suggested writing down the intrusive thoughts.
It's claimed De Beger gave Letby counselling over several sessions, all of which were arranged by the hospital.
Other subjects mentioned in her notes include her cats, Tigger and Smudge, her dog, Whiskey.
The word 'Tiny Boy' was also mentioned - initially thought to be a reference to babies she killed, however investigators eventually established it to be the nickname for the Yorkshire cross terrier dog, according to the sources.
Letby, of Hereford, was convicted of the murders and attempted murders of the babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital in August 2023.
The jury in Letby's trial, however, was unable to reach verdicts on six counts of attempted murder in relation to five children.
She went on to face a retrial in the same court, culminating in her conviction on seven counts of murder in July 2024.
However, recent months have seen an increasing number of questions raised surrounding the nurse's conviction - including reports that deceased tech tycoon Mike Lynch was set to look into the case prior to his death.
However, the sticky notes did not feature as part of Letby’s appeal application, which was rejected.
The notes are believed to have been written some time between July 2016 and her arrest in July 2018.
It's a period which saw the nurse her duties on the neo-natal unit following a string of unexplained deaths.
According to sources close to the case, the nurse was told not to talk to her colleagues, leading the nurse to feel increasingly isolated and distressed.
The latest news comes as an increasing number of questions surrounding the nurse's conviction have come to light.
It comes as Letby's conviction for murdering babies has reportedly left a group of nurses feeling "terrified" that they could be wrongly blamed for a child's death.
19 nurses claimed they felt the evidence used to convict the nurse was unreliable and posed major concerns to others practicing.
