Lucy Letby 'excitedly' told colleagues of baby's death 'in gossipy manner', inquiry hears

ITV Granada Reports' Mel Barham recaps what the Thirlwall Inquiry into events surrounding the crimes of Letby heard.

Lucy Letby 'excitedly' told colleagues of a baby's death in an almost "gossipy manner", a nurse who worked with her has said.

As well as reporting the death of the child to the nurse while on shift Letby also text another colleague to inform her of the news, leaving her "angry", "devastated" and unsure of where to seek help.

The child serial killer was removed from the Countess of Chester Hospital unit in July 2016 after consultant paediatricians raised concerns about her harming babies as she was present for a string of unexpected and unexplained deaths and collapses.

Letby's return to the unit from clerical duties was postponed until hospital bosses eventually called in Cheshire Police in May 2017 after consultants persisted with their concerns.

Nurse Melanie Taylor told the Thirlwall Inquiry into events surrounding the crimes of Letby at Liverpool Town Hall that parts of Letby’s personality were a “little strange”.

Giving evidence, she said: “I do remember her coming on to a shift to tell me about a baby that had died.

"It was almost in a way where she was excited to tell me, almost like in a gossipy manner.”

Counsel to the inquiry Rachel Langdale KC asked: “Did it strike you at the time as unusual?”

Ms Taylor said: “Yes it did. There were parts of her personality that were a little strange to me.

“I didn’t have any suspicions about any of this … that didn’t cross my mind.

“I personally didn’t have any concerns with her nursing care but her way of speaking to other members of staff, I didn’t like. I felt it was not the most professional.”

Ms Taylor said staff had noted Letby appeared to be present at a lot of deaths.

She said: “My personal feeling and from what I heard from other staff was that it was really unfortunate she had been there for so many tragic events.

“I think it’s an unthinkable thing. It’s just such an unbelievable situation that somebody would do that, especially someone you work with.

"At the time I would have thought there would be signs of that.”

Ashleigh Hudson, another nurse on the ward, said she was "angry" about a text message that Letby had sent her about the death of her first victim in June 2015.

Letby wrote: "Hi Ashleigh. You may have heard by now but wanted to let you know that we lost little (Child A) on Mon.

"Know you looked after him when he was born so thought you should know xx”.

Ms Hudson told the inquiry: “I can actually vividly remember this because I was devastated.

“I had only been on the unit for a couple of months at this point. This was the fist time a patient that I had looked after had then passed away.

“I was also a bit angry because I didn’t think it was appropriate to get this information by text because what do I do with it, how do I then seek support?”

Letby went on to write: “I took pictures, hand/foot prints etc… they (the parents) had time together & got some nice little mementos when they are ready to take them.”

Asked about the message, Ms Hudson said: “At the time I felt it was too much information.

"I kind of shut the conversation down and deleted the messages off my phone because it was just very uncomfortable

“Looking at it now, knowing what I know… it’s very upsetting. It just makes me feel sick to be honest.”

Another nurse Kathryn Percival-Calderbank told the hearing how after the death of one of the babies, Letby had shouted at her about being allocated a shift looking after less sick babies.

She said Letby had made it clear to her that she found it "boring" and she wanted to be put back into to care for the most poorly babies.

Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.

The inquiry, chaired by Lady Justice Thirlwall, is expected to continue until early 2025, with findings published by late autumn.