UK nurse kills babies; prosecutors list potential motives behind murders
Lucy Letby, a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital, United Kingdom (UK), convicted for the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six others on Friday, has stunned the world. The prosecutors have now revealed the possible motives behind the killings. According to them, Letby reportedly enjoyed "playing God" by harming the babies through several seemingly innocuous methods. She was also usually the first to alert her colleagues regarding her victims' deteriorating health condition.
'Personal attention': Letby's alleged affair with married doctor
As per the news outlet NDTV, prosecutors suggested that Letby had a secret relationship with a married doctor at the hospital, claiming that she allegedly hurt the babies to get his "personal attention." However, Letby has denied this claim. Reportedly, the duo regularly messaged each other, swapping love heart emojis, and met several times outside work, too.
Accused volunteered to take additional shifts: Report
According to BBC, text messages between Letby and her colleagues revealed that she contacted her coworkers following her victims' deaths and received sympathy from them. The unsettling texts also showed her reactions as concerns over the sudden increase in infant fatalities at the hospital. Furthermore, the 33-year-old accused reportedly enjoyed harming babies. She also volunteered to take additional shifts in the hospital's neonatal intensive therapy unit.
Letby 'predicted' things she knew were going to happen
Among the other possible motives listed by the investigators was boredom. Letby, a Band 5 nurse, was reportedly trained and qualified to treat even the most serious neonatal cases. However, she reportedly admitted that sometimes her work was "less stimulating," especially when she was tasked with caring for infants who didn't need much attention. Moreover, a prosecutor alleged, "She was controlling things... She was predicting things that she knew were going to happen. She, in effect, was playing God."
Prosecutors present shocking notes allegedly written by Letby
The prosecutors also presented several notes written by Letby, one of which read, "I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough to care for them." "I will never have children or marry. I will never know what it's like to have a family," it further stated. The police are now probing Letby's tenure at the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women's Hospital, where she previously worked.
Know how Letby allegedly tortured babies
Notably, the police have claimed that Letby adopted various methods to harm the infants, including injecting air and insulin into their bloodstream, force-feeding an overdose of liquids, including milk, infusing air into their gastrointestinal tract, and impact-like trauma. The accused reportedly intended to kill the babies while making her coworkers believe their deaths occurred due to natural causes.
Letby to be sentenced on Monday: CPS
Earlier, The Indian Express reported the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed that the accused 33-year-old National Health Service (NHS) neonatal nurse will be sentenced at the Manchester Crown Court on Monday. It is also noteworthy that Letby was first arrested by the cops back in July 2018 and later charged in the case in November 2020.
