Pictured: Handwritten notes found at the home of ‘killer’ neo-natal nurse Lucy Letby

A series of handwritten notes found at the home of murder-accused nurse Lucy Letby have been released.

The images were shown on Monday to jurors in her trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Letby, 33, denies the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of 10 others at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neo-natal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.

Police first detained Letby in a dawn arrest in July 2018 at her three-bedroom home in Westbourne Road, Chester, the court has heard.

Among items recovered were the notes consisting of closely written words, sentences and doodlings.

Undated handout photo issued by Cheshire Constabulary/CPS of a hand written note which was shown in court on Monday in the Lucy Letby trial

Two phrases repeatedly used in the notes were ‘Please help me’ and ‘I can’t do it any more’

Some appeared incoherent but two phrases repeatedly used were ‘Please help me’ and ‘I can’t do it any more’, the court heard.

One sentence read: ‘No one will ever understand or appreciate what it’s like’, while another said: ‘I want someone to help me but they can’t so what’s the point in asking. Hate my life.’

Names of some of her colleagues also appeared in the notes – partly redacted – including a declaration of love for a doctor who cannot be identified for legal reasons. Next to his name was ‘I loved you’ and ‘my best friend’.

Further entries on June 23, 24 and 25 included initial letters which the Crown say related to three other babies, including two triplet boys, that Letby allegedly attacked on those dates following her return from a holiday to Ibiza. 

Prosecutor Philip Astbury said a green Post-it note, shown to jurors at the start of Letby’s trial, was found inside the diary.

Part of the note read ‘I don’t deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them’, ‘I am a horrible evil person’ and in capital letters ‘I am evil I did this’.

An A4-size piece of paper containing similarly jumbled handwritten notes was also found in the diary, the court heard.

One sentence read: ‘I killed them. I don’t know if I killed them. Maybe I did. Maybe this is down to me.’

One sentence read: ‘No one will ever understand or appreciate what it’s like’

Letby, 33, denies the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of 10 others

The words ‘kill me’ written in bold and circled could also be seen.

Other words appearing on the A4 paper were ‘foreign objects’, ‘slander’, ‘tired’, ‘crime number’, ‘diagnosis compromised’, ‘risk factors’ and, repeatedly, ‘help me’.

In his opening speech, Ben Myers KC, defending, told jurors the Post-it note was the ‘anguished outpouring of a young woman’.

Letby was re-arrested at her parents’ home in Hereford in June 2019 and November 2020.

Letby denies all the allegations.