British Nurse Accused of Murdering Infants Texted Friend She Had 'Mini Meltdown ... About What's Happened at Work'

The British nurse accused of murdering seven infants in her hospital's neonatal unit texted a friend that she had a "mini meltdown … about what's happened at work," according to prosecutors.

At her trial this week, jurors were shown text message exchanges between Lucy Letby and some of her colleagues, including one that was sent weeks after the death of three of the infants and the alleged attempted murder of another, the BBC reports.

"Haha," she allegedly wrote. "Nodding off in cinema isn't a good look, I had a mini meltdown last night about what's happened at work...I just need some time off with mum and dad."

Arrested in July 2018, Letby is on trial in Manchester Crown Court in northwest England after being charged with killing five baby boys and two baby girls and attempting to kill 10 others in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in Manchester between June 2015 and June 2016, the BBC reports.

Her trial has garnered international attention.

Last week, jurors were shown Post-it notes allegedly written by Letby that were found in her home during a search.

"What allegations have been made and by who," one Post-it reportedly read. "Do they have written evidence to support their comments?"

Prosecutors said that she also wrote that she was "evil" and "killed them on purpose."

While some notes read that she's a "horrible evil person" who isn't "good enough," others included what prosecutor Nick Johnson told the court was "protestations of innocence." For instance, one includes the phrase "I haven't done anything wrong and they have no evidence so why have I had to hide away?"

Johnson told jurors that the child deaths at the hospital's neonatal unit were statistically comparable to other units in the U.K. before January 2015, reported The Independent.

But, according to Johnson, this drastically changed over the next 18 months, during which the hospital saw a spike in the deaths of babies.

"It is a hospital like so many others in the U.K. but unlike many other hospitals in the U.K., and unlike many other neonatal units in the U.K., within the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital a poisoner was at work," Johnson added, per the outlet.

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Following an inquiry into the sudden spike in deaths and serious medical complications, Johnson said that hospital authorities discovered the presence of Letby to be a "common denominator." He also said this pattern continued when Letby was moved to different work hours, according to The Independent.

The prosecutor alleged that Letby poisoned the babies with insulin and cited the case of two boys born during the summer of 2015 and spring of 2016, reported The Times of London.

"Lucy Letby was on duty when both were poisoned and we allege she was the poisoner," Johnson told the court, reported The Times.

"The collapses of all 17 children concerned were not 'naturally occurring tragedies,'" Johnson continued. "They were all the work, we say, of the woman in the dock, who we say was the constant, malevolent presence when things took a turn for the worse for these 17 children."

Letby was first arrested on suspicion of committing the crimes in 2018, according to a statement from the Cheshire Police Department.

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She "was subsequently bailed pending further enquiries," added the release.

One year later she was rearrested "on suspicion of murder in relation to the deaths of 8 babies and the attempted murder of 6 babies," as well as "the attempted murder of three additional babies," Cheshire Police continued.

Letby's trial may last up to six months, the BBC reported.