NURSE Lucy Letby told a colleague there was an “element of fate” in the deaths of babies after allegedly killing three children.

The 32-year-old, who is accused of murdering babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit, sent WhatsApp messages to another nurse on June 22 2015 following a shift where a baby, referred to as Child D, died.

On Thursday, Manchester Crown Court heard Letby messaged her colleague about an hour after finishing the night shift and said: “We had such a rubbish night. Our job is just far too sad sometimes.”

She went on to say: “We lost (Child D).”

Her colleague replied: “What!!!! But she was improving. What happened?

“Wanna chat? I can’t believe you were on again. You’re having such a tough time.”

Letby told her friend the baby had a rash which looked like “overwhelming sepsis” and had collapsed.

She added: “So upsetting for everyone. Parents absolutely devastated, dad screaming.”

She described the unexpected death, the third on the unit in two weeks, as “another shock for us all” and said she felt “numb”.

But, she added it was “part of the job” and she would “keep ploughing on”.

When her colleague described their job as the “s****est” but also the “best”, Letby responded: “Absolutely, on a day to day basis it is an incredible job with so many positives.

“But then sometimes I think how is it such sick babies get through and others die so suddenly and unexpectedly. Guess it’s how it is meant to be.”

She added: “I think there is an element of fate involved. There is a reason for everything.”

The court heard three days after Child D’s death, Letby searched for the baby’s parents on Facebook.

On June 26 she messaged another friend and colleague, Minna Lappalainen, and said: “Work has been awful.

“We have had three unexpected deaths, transfer out, few sick ones, unit full.

“What I’ve seen has really hit me tonight.”

When her friend suggested she should talk to a counsellor, Letby said: “I just don’t think I can.

“I can’t talk about it now. I can’t stop crying. I just need to get it out of my system.”

Ms Lappalainen suggested she might need some time off work and Letby replied: “Work is always my priority. I won’t let it affect it. I just haven’t let myself cry over it until now.

“Once I’ve let it out my head will be clear.”

Letby made a further two searches for the father of Child D on Facebook on October 3, 2015.

Letby, originally from Hereford, denies the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of 10 others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

The trial continues on Friday, November 4.

The Standard will continue to provide live coverage from the trial that day.