Lucy Letby had four “sickening” words for a mum whose baby girl was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after being cared for by the killer nurse.
The woman fears her daughter, who was born prematurely in 2014, may have been left brain damaged by Letby.
She is calling for police to investigate and seeking to bring a claim against the Countess of Chester Hospital where Letby murdered seven babies and attempting to murder six more between 2015 and 2016.
Letby, 33, is expected to appeal the whole life order she was given when she was sentenced at Manchester Crown Crown Court in August.
The girl’s mum unearthed a Polaroid photo taken by Letby of her baby aleep in a hospital cot with a feeding tube detached from her nose, dated October 25, 2014.
On the back of the picture are the chilling words: “Caught in the act! [Baby’s name] deciding she is a big girl now and doesn’t need to be tube fed anymore! x”.
The words now appear grimly ironic after Letby was herself caught, and brought to justice for harming children under her care.
She said: “When we came in Lucy was leaving a night shift, and said, ‘I left a little present in her cot for you’.
“I’ve always known it was her that wrote it because I put it up in a frame afterwards.
“When she was arrested I immediately took it back down and put it in a drawer and I’ve been unable to put it back up since.”
According to the mum, a day after Letby left the note, her baby ended up at the centre of a medical drama.
Her daughter had been making good progress on the neonatal unit and was transferred to a nursery ward where she continued to gain strength with her parents preparing for her to be discharged.
But they arrived one morning, not long after Letby had been on shift, to hear alarms ringing and their daughter’s health deteriorating, the Mirror reports.
The mum said that around the time she was born, her daughter had a brain scan with the results clear, but eight months later she visited a consultant as her daughter was struggling to sit upright. An MRI scan confirmed she had brain damage with cerebral palsy.
She later contacted the police to raise her concerns about Letby taking care of her daughter and the lack of an explanation for her condition.
On the day she discovered Letby had been found guilty, the mum said she burst into tears.
She told the Mirror: “All the hairs were sticking up on my arms. I just brought the photo out and read the back of it thinking, ‘It can’t actually be’. Why would she take a picture of a child with a feeding tube hanging out its nose?
“If that ever happened nurses wouldn’t leave it – they’d put it straight back. The feeding tube would go down her nose and into her stomach – that’s how she was fed.
“In the picture, the plaster should be taped to her nose to keep it on, but it isn’t. It’s not a nice photo, and I don’t know why anyone would take a picture of it. “
Although there was an initial police investigation into why the baby was left with cerebral palsy, Letby faced no further action in relation to the case.
The parents are now seeking to take their case further. Karen Cathcart, Medical Negligence Partner at Devonshire Claims, said: “It’s unclear at this stage why the police did not pursue this case but it’s clear there needs to be further investigation. This little girl has been impacted for life and the family deserve answers.”
Cheshire Police told the Mirror they are reviewing other cases related to infants under Letby’s care.
A spokeswoman for the force, Shelley Smith, said the force is in the process of reviewing other cases but is unable to comment on specific babies/families at this stage.
Jane Tomkinson OBE, Acting Chief Executive Officer at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, told the Mirror: “Following the trial of former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, the Trust welcomes the announcement of a statutory public inquiry by the Department of Health and Social Care.
“In addition, the trust will be supporting the ongoing investigation by Cheshire Police. Due to ongoing legal considerations, it would not be appropriate for the Trust to make any further comment at this time.”
