Personal notes that played a key role in convicting child serial killer Lucy Letby were reportedly written under the guidance of counsellors to help the nurse manage severe stress. The handwritten notes, which included disturbing phrases such as “I am evil I did this” and “I killed them on purpose because I am not good enough to care for them,” were used as evidence during Letby’s trial.

Letby was convicted in 2023 for the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six others, including two attempts on one child. Earlier this year, she proclaimed her innocence while receiving an additional whole-life sentence for the attempted murder of another baby girl. She is currently serving 15 whole-life sentences for her crimes, committed at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.

Sources close to the case told The Guardian that the notes, labelled as confessions, were produced as part of a therapeutic process during counselling sessions. Letby was reportedly advised to document her troubling thoughts and feelings to cope with intense stress. The notes, written after some of her colleagues began suspecting her of murder, included references to her family, pets, and coworkers, and described recurring suicidal thoughts.

The prosecution built its case against Letby by highlighting incriminating phrases like “I am evil I did this,” which were repeatedly brought to the jury’s attention. However, other phrases in the notes, which were also considered confessions, included statements like “Why me?”, “I haven’t done anything wrong,” and “Police investigation slander discrimination victimisation.”

Some experts have dismissed Letby’s notes as “meaningless” and argued they held no value as evidence, especially if written as part of therapy. David Wilson, a professor of criminology at Birmingham City University, commented, “Many people say things under stress that may imply one thing but mean nothing, other than reflecting their underlying stress.” He added that if the notes were part of therapy, they should not be considered confessions.

Richard Curen, chair of the Forensic Psychotherapy Society, echoed this sentiment, stating that “doodling and journaling are ways to take control of one’s thoughts,” and do not indicate a confession. He noted that Letby’s response about the notes in court was “robust” and aligned with her explanation that she was expressing how she felt she was being perceived.

A public inquiry into Letby’s case is set to begin next week amid growing questions about the safety of her conviction. Sources revealed that Kathryn de Beger, the head of occupational health and wellbeing at the hospital where Letby worked, had encouraged her to write down her feelings to cope with extreme stress. Letby’s Chester GP also advised her to write down thoughts she found difficult to process.

Letby had received several counselling sessions from Ms. de Beger, and her notes frequently referenced her. During her trial, Letby explained that she had always written things down to help understand her feelings, describing the notes as random thoughts. She questioned herself, wondering if she had unintentionally caused harm by not being knowledgeable enough or by not being a good enough nurse.

In her defence, it was argued that the notes reflected her distressed state of mind after being accused of killing babies, rather than an admission of guilt. Her defence barrister, Ben Myers KC, previously argued that the prosecution’s case was “riddled with guilt” and that everything Letby said or did was interpreted as evidence of her guilt.

Despite this, no expert forensic psychologists were called to testify on how the notes should be interpreted. The Countess of Chester Hospital declined to comment on the case while the inquiry and further investigations are ongoing.

An investigation by the UK’s healthcare agency NHS has linked the arrest of a nurse to death of three babies under suspicious circumstances at the hospital where she worked. According to The Telegraph, the nurse used to work at Birmingham Children’s Hospital but her identity has not been released. The 28-year-old was arrested on suspicion of administering poison with intent to endanger life. This comes shortly after the conviction of another nurse named Lucy Letby on charges of murdering seven babies.

Though the probe was launched last year, after the baby’s death, the nurse remained under investigation this weekend. She has not yet been taken back by the hospital, and the regulator too has suspended her, which means she cannot work as a nurse elsewhere.

All the families of the children involved in the review in Birmingham have been informed, said The Telegraph.

“In May 2022, a child on the paediatric intensive care unit at Birmingham Children’s Hospital deteriorated suddenly and unexpectedly. Due to the circumstances of the deterioration, the trust acted straight away,” Dr Fiona Reynolds, NHS trust’s chief medical officer, said in a statement.

“A member of staff was suspended from work and subsequently arrested at home. Sadly, the child later died and our thoughts remain with the family,” she added.

According to Metro, the NHS trust passed the findings to the police.

Meanwhile, Lucy Letby was accused of harming 17 babies, some of them just days old, between June 2015 and June 2016.

In the majority of cases she is believed to have injected them with air but prosecutors also accused her of introducing insulin or too much milk.

London:

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has unveiled plans for tough new laws which would mean those convicted of heinous murders will face life behind bars for the rest of their lives, with no chance of being considered for parole or early release.

The 43-year-old British Indian leader said in a statement on Saturday that “life means life” and judges will be required to hand down mandatory whole-life orders to criminals who commit the most horrific types of murder.

The new law will place a legal expectation on judges to hand down whole-life orders, except in extremely limited circumstances.

“I have shared the public’s horror at the cruelty of crimes we have seen recently. People rightly expect that in the most serious cases, there should be a guarantee that life will mean life. They expect honesty in sentencing,” said Sunak.

“By bringing in mandatory whole life orders for the heinous criminals who commit the most horrific types of murder, we will make sure they never walk free,” he said.

It comes in the days after nurse Lucy Letby was handed a whole-life order after being found guilty of killing seven newborn babies under her care at a hospital in northern England.

The UK’s statutory provisions do not allow capital punishment and therefore the toughest sentence to be handed down is a whole-life term. By putting things on a legal footing, Downing Street said judges will have greater confidence to hand out whole-life orders without risk of challenge in the Courts of Appeal. Under the legal shake-up, whole-life orders will also be the default sentence for any sexually motivated murders.

“A whole-life order will now be the expectation for murderers where the killing involves sexual or sadistic conduct. This important law change will ensure that the worst of the worst can now expect to spend the rest of their lives in prison,” said UK Justice Secretary Alex Chalk.

The UK government said it will legislate for the changes announced in due course, as Parliament returns from its summer recess next month.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)