Lucy Letby: What police found at her Chester home at 2018 arrest

The photos were taken following the arrest of the former Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal nurse on July 3, 2018.

Letby was found guilty on seven counts of murdering babies, and seven counts of attempted murder on six more babies, following the trial which lasted more than 10 months.

Photos of Letby's home were shown to the courtroom at Manchester Crown Court by the prosecution on Monday, April 17, in the 24th week of the trial before a jury.

Some of the following photos – which include handwritten notes by Letby – have only recently been made available to the press, and can now be revealed.

Lucy Letby's bedroom. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

As the photos of her bedroom were shown to the court, Lucy Letby, 33, wept in the dock.

She was first arrested in July 2018 on suspicion of attacking infants in her care – two years after she worked her last shift at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit.

Handbags in Lucy Letby's bedroom. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

Letby was moved by health chiefs to the hospital’s risk and patient safety office after consultants raised concerns about her “common link” to numerous collapses of patients at the unit.

Jurors were told the defendant was first arrested at her three-bedroom property in Westbourne Road, Chester, at 6am on July 3, 2018.

A plan view of Lucy Letby's Westbourne Road home in Chester. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

A distressed Letby wiped away tears as photographs of her bedroom – taken by a crime scene investigator – appeared on screen in court.

On the bedroom walls there were two framed pictures containing the slogans Shine Like A Diamond and Leave Sparkles Wherever You Go.

A bin bag found in the garage of Lucy Letby's Chester home. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

Two teddy bears were positioned on an unmade double bed while among items on the floor were a red suitcase, a large burgundy handbag and a small black handbag, the court heard.

Prosecutor Philip Astbury said three handwritten notes were recovered by police from one of the handbags.

Handwritten messages uncovered at the time of Lucy Letby's arrest in July 2018. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

The notes contained closely written words which filled the pages and included declarations of love for a doctor colleague, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Next to his name was “I loved you” and “my best friend”.

Also contained in the notes were the words “Help Me”, “I Can’t Do This Any More” and “How Can Life Be This Way”.

Handwritten messages uncovered at Lucy Letby's home in July 2018. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

Jurors were told that a 2016 diary was recovered from a chest of drawers.

A reference to “twins” was recorded for April 8, the date of birth for two twin boys the Crown say Letby attempted to murder, the court heard. The jury later found Letby had attempted to murder both twin boys.

On April 9 a note stating “twin resus” was made.

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. The jury found Letby guilty on the two triplet boy murders, and could not reach a verdict on the third child.

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

Handwritten messages uncovered at Lucy Letby's home in July 2018. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

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.

Handwritten messages uncovered at the time of Lucy Letby's arrest in July 2018. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

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

Handwritten messages uncovered at the time of Lucy Letby's arrest in July 2018. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

The words “kill me” written in bold and circled could also be seen.

Handwritten messages uncovered at the time of Lucy Letby's arrest in July 2018. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

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

Handwritten messages uncovered at the time of Lucy Letby's arrest in July 2018. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

In his opening speech, Benjamin Myers KC, defending, told jurors the Post-it note was the “anguished outpouring of a young woman”.

He added Letby was at the time “in fear and despair when she realises the enormity of what’s being said about her, in the moment, to herself”.

Lucy Letby's 'Ibiza bag'. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

Underneath her bed an Ibiza bag for life was found which contained four shift handover sheets for the dates of June 23, June 24, June 25 and June 28, 2016, the court heard.

Also in the bag was her NHS “registered children’s nurse” work badge, jurors heard.

Lucy Letby's 'Morrisons bag.' Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

A Morrisons shopping bag recovered from the bedroom contained 31 handover sheets, a blood gas reading for a child she allegedly attacked and a paper towel containing handwritten resuscitation notes.

Searches also took place on July 3, 2018 at Letby’s parents’ home in Hereford and at the defendant’s workplace at the hospital’s risk and patient safety office.

Handwritten messages uncovered at the time of Lucy Letby's arrest in July 2018. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

An annual leave request form from Letby – covered with untidily written jumbled words – was found in a blue folder of papers during the office search, the court heard.

Handwritten messages uncovered at the time of Lucy Letby's arrest in July 2018. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

Hearts were doodled on the form along with random words “Tigger”, “Smudge”, “Bergerac” and “Help Me”. Tigger and Smudge were later revealed to be the names of rescue cats that Letby owned.

Handwritten messages uncovered at the time of Lucy Letby's arrest in July 2018. Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

Sentences scrawled across the form included “I trusted you with everything and loved you”, “I really can’t do this any more, I just want life to be as it was,” “I want to be happy in the job that I loved… really don’t belong anywhere, I’m a problem to those who do know me and it would be much easier for everyone if I just went away”.

Letby was re-arrested at her parents’ home on June 10, 2019 and November 11, 2020.

A search of the garage at the Westbourne Road property on June 10 revealed another handwritten note found in a black bin bag.

Phrases on that note included “killing me softly”, “broken hearted” and “no-one will ever know what happened or why”.

Six pages of medical notes of children unrelated to the trial were found at her parents’ home on the same date.

A total of 257 handover sheets were recovered during searches in the investigation, of which 21 included the names of babies in the indictment.