Inside NHS Angel of Death's motives as Lucy Letby guilty of murdering 7 babies
Evil Lucy Letby has been convicted of murdering seven innocent babies left in her care.
The 33-year-old killed the defenceless infants as she worked at Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit in Chester. Letby, from Hereford, harmed the infants in a number of manners, including by injecting air intravenously and administering air and/or milk into the stomach via nasogastric tubes. She also added insulin as a poison to intravenous feeds, interfered with breathing tubes, and inflicted trauma in some cases.
A jury at Manchester Crown Court found her guilty of seven counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder. Letby was also found not guilty of two further counts of attempted murder. A criminology expert has shed some light on what he believes to be the motive behind her wicked actions.
Police mugshot of Lucy Letby (Cheshire Constabulary via Getty)
Letby has been convicted of seven murders (Chester Chronicle)Dr Dominic Willmott, a senior lecturer in criminology at Loughborough University, said the former nurse’s text messages showed she wanted to “garner sympathy” from colleagues after the children’s deaths. The expert told how there were “clear similarities” with Letby and historic cases of killer nurses, such as Beverley Allitt from the UK and Charles Cullen in the US.
Allitt, 54, targeted 13 victims during a 59-day spree which saw her kill four babies and poison nine others at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire, in 1991. Doctors believe she suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy while carrying out the attacks, in which a caregiver may harm someone in their care to get attention.
Lucy Letby guilty of murdering 7 babies as Angel of Death faces life sentence
Cullen, 63, murdered dozens, possibly hundreds, of patients during a 16-year career spanning several medical centres in the American state of New Jersey. Dr Willmott believes there are clear resemblances between the historic cases and that of Letby . The criminologist, who has previously authored a paper on the Beverley Allitt case, said: “In our analysis of healthcare professionals who perpetrate violence against their patients, especially children, offending appeared to be motivated by a pathological desire for attention and sympathy emerging as a consequence of their involvement in the case.
The 33-year-old denied any wrongdoing (Facebook)
Beverley Allitt killed four babies and poisoned nine (PA)“There was a complex interaction between this and a history of personality disorder diagnoses and characteristics, and were often found to be highly sadistic and narcissistic as described by those who knew them.” Speaking after the trial, detectives said the reason why Letby went on a killing spree at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit may never be known.
Prosecutors never advanced a motive as they outlined the allegations against her to the jury. Letby denied doing anything harmful to any child and claimed the sudden collapses and deaths could have been due to natural causes, or for some unknown reason, or from failure by others to provide appropriate care.
The defence claimed she was a “hard-working, dedicated and caring” nurse who loved her job. Dr Willmott said: “Text messages released during the Letby trial appear to indicate her efforts to garner sympathy from her colleagues following the children’s deaths.
“Other evidence that she had to be repeatedly asked to focus on other patients around the time of the death of other babies and her passing on death notifications to family members seems to indicate her desire to be personally involved in the case, even when doing so was likely to raise suspicions about her involvement. My heart goes out to the families whose babies were mercilessly taken from them.”
How Britain's worst modern day child killer was caught
May 2017: The Countess of Chester Hospital Foundation Trust contacted Cheshire Constabulary regarding neonatal services at the hospital. This was in relation to a greater number of baby deaths and non-fatal collapses than normally expected during the period of June 2015 and June 2016. The hospital also made the Constabulary aware of a number of independent reviews that they had commissioned into these deaths. As a result of this information, the force launched an investigation.
3 July 2018: Lucy Letby, who worked as a nurse within the Neonatal Unit at the hospital, was arrested at her home in Chester in connection with the ongoing investigation. She was arrested on suspicion of murder in relation to 8 babies who died and attempted murder in relation to 6 babies. She was subsequently bailed pending further enquiries.
10 June 2019: Letby was re-arrested at the home of her parents in Hereford on suspicion of the same offences (murder in relation to 8 babies who died and attempted murder in relation to 6 babies). She was also arrested in connection with the attempted murder of 3 additional babies. She was bailed again pending further enquiries.
10 November 2020: Letby was re-arrested at the home of her parents in Hereford on suspicion of murder in relation to the deaths of 8 babies and the attempted murder of 9 babies. On 11 November 2020 Letby was charged with 8 counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. The charges relate to the period of June 2015 to June 2016.
Police fear killer nurse Lucy Letby has many more helpless victims
October 2021: The 31-year-old pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was set to face a trial from 4 October 2022 at Manchester Crown Court.
June 2022: During a further case management hearing, CPS offered no evidence in relation to one of the murder charges. This means that Letby was charged with 7 counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. It relates to a baby where Letby was charged with both murder and attempted murder against this same child. In this case, the attempted murder charge remained.
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