Yahoo News Unknowing parents thanked and hugged Lucy Letby after she'd killed their baby boy
In a series of texts sent to her colleagues at the hospital, Letby described comforting the parents of the babies she has since been found guilty of attacking.
A nurse who was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others sent texts about hugging the weeping parents of one of her victims, it has emerged.
Lucy Letby, 33, was found guilty on Friday of carrying out a 12-month attack spree while she worked with newborn babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
In a series of texts sent to her colleagues at the hospital, Letby described comforting the parents of the babies she has since been found guilty of attacking.
"I said goodbye to (Child E and F’s parents) as (Child F) might go tomorrow, she wrote in one message, reported PA. "They both cried & hugged me saying they will never be able to thank me for the love & care I gave to (Child E) & for the precious memories I’ve given them. It’s heart-breaking.
"I just feel sad that they are thanking me when they have lost him & for something that any of us would have done. But it’s really nice to know that I got it right for them. That’s all I want."
Letby was found guilty of murdering Child E by injecting air into his bloodstream and deliberately causing bleeding to the infant, while she was also found guilty of the attempted murder of his twin brother (Child F) by poisoning him with insulin.
There is set to be an investigation into how Letby's actions could have gone undetected for so long - despite several doctors raising concerns about her presence on the ward.
However many of her colleagues appear to have viewed her as a trusted staff member, with texts sent between Letby and an unnamed doctor showing the level of trust that was placed in her.
In one exchange, in which Letby said the deaths of babies in her care made her question whether she was good enough, the doctor wrote: "You are one of the few nurses across the region (I've worked pretty much everywhere) that I would trust with my own children."
In another text, sent on 22 June 2015, four-and-a-half hours after the murder of Child D, Letby suggested to colleagues that there was a "reason for everything" and that there was an element of fate involved.
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"On a day to day basis it’s an incredible job with so many positives," she wrote. "But sometimes I think, how do such sick babies get through & others just die so suddenly and unexpectedly? Guess it’s how it’s meant to be… I think there is an element of fate involved. There is a reason for everything."
Pascale Jones, a senior prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, said in a statement that 'innocuous substances' like milk and fluids 'would become lethal' in Letby's hands.
"Parents were exposed to her morbid curiosity and her fake compassion," she said.
"Too many of them returned home to empty baby rooms. Many surviving children live with permanent consequences of her assaults upon their lives.
"Her attacks were a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her.
"My thoughts are with families of the victims who may never have closure, but who now have answers to questions which had troubled them for years."
