Lucy Letby told colleague she had 'maybe done something wrong' to babies

Child serial killer nurse Lucy Letby told a colleague more than a year before her arrest she was worried she had “maybe done something wrong” to babies, an inquiry has heard. Letby expressed her concerns in an email to an occupational health nurse in April 2017 and added: “I blame myself”.

Kathyrn de Beger told the Thirlwall Inquiry into events surrounding the crimes of Letby that bosses at the Countess of Chester Hospital gave her the task of supporting the nurse’s mental health and wellbeing following her removal from the neonatal unit in July 2016. She said she was initially informed that Letby had been redeployed for training purposes amid a probe into an increased mortality rate on the unit but later learned she was suspected of causing harm to patients.

A WhatsApp group was set up with Letby, her union representative Hayley Cooper, Ms de Beger and Karen Rees, head of nursing in the urgent care division, the inquiry heard. Hundreds of messages were sent including discussions on Letby’s shopping trips to Liverpool, a forthcoming family wedding and cookery tips.

Ms de Beger said: “I have not been in a WhatsApp group with any other member of staff but I’ve not supported staff in this situation ever before and I felt at that time that I was the only support that Lucy Letby had. She was going through what I thought at the time was a very distressing situation and it was given to me to support her the best I could, to keep her in work and maintain her mental health.

“That’s why there were so many messages to try to make sure she was OK.”

The inquiry heard Ms de Beger stated to police that Letby asked for meetings with her around the anniversaries of babies’ deaths but in her evidence she said she thought this happened