NURSE Lucy Letby told a colleague the death of a newborn on her night shift “could have happened to any baby”, her murder trial heard.

Letby, 32, was in WhatsApp conversation with a fellow neo-natal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital on the evening of August 4, 2015 – more than 16 hours after Child E was pronounced dead.

Her colleague, Jennifer Jones-Key, asked: “Hey how are you?”

Letby replied: “Not so good. We lost (Child E) overnight.”

Ms Jones-Key said: “That’s sad. We are on a terrible run at the moment. Were you in 1?”

Letby said: “I had him and (Child F, twin brother of Child E).

“It’s a luck of the drawer (sic) isn’t it unfortunately. Only three trained so I ended up having both whereas just (Child F) the other shift x”

Ms Jones-Key replied: “You seem to have been having such very bad luck though.”

Letby said: “Not a lot I can do really. He had a massive haemorrhage. Could have happened to any baby.”

The defendant engaged in another WhatsApp message exchange with another nursing colleague – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – on August 9.

Letby told the nurse: “I said goodbye to (Child E’s parents) as (Child F) might go tomorrow.

“They both cried and hugged me saying they will never be able to thank me for the love and care I gave to (Child E) and for the precious memories I have given them. It’s heart breaking.”

Her colleague replied: “You should feel very proud of yourself, especially as you have done so well in such tough and heart breaking circumstances.”

Letby said: “I just feel sad that they are thanking me when they have lost him and for something that any of us would have done. But it’s really nice to know that I got it right for them. That’s all I want.”

Jurors at Manchester Crown Court were read another message exchange from November 12, 2015 when a nurse informed Letby that Child E and F’s parents had brought a “huge hamper” into the unit with a card.

Letby replied: “Oh gosh, did they? Aw, wish I could have seen them. That will stay with me forever. Lovely family xx.”

Letby is accused of murdering Child E and later attempting to murder Child F.

The court heard Letby made nine searches on Facebook for the parents of those twin boys in the weeks and months after Child E died, the majority a search for the mother. One of the searches was on Christmas Day 2015, with the last two searches coming in January 2016.

Ben Myers KC, defending Letby, said it was the case Letby also looked up the names of parents on Facebook of children who were not involved in the case.

The defendant, originally from Hereford, denies the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of 10 others between June 2015 and June 2016.

The trial continues on Tuesday, November 15.

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