Lucy Letby's parents watched trial of UK's worst baby killer every day in court
John and Susan Letby sat in court throughout the harrowing nine-month child of Lucy Letby, their only daughter, and now UK’s biggest child serial killer.
Letby, 33, was found guilty by the jury of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others while working in the Countess of Chester Hospital. At the time, she was a nurse in a neonatal unit for sick babies - entrusted to do her utmost to save their lives.
And her parents watched on throughout the long, detailed, and devastating trial. In fact, they had been visiting Letby when she was first arrested on 3 July 2018 at 6am, not long after they had taken Letby to Torquay for a family holiday. Letby lived on Westbourne Road, Chester - within walking distance of the hospital.
The couple were so adamant they wanted to hear all the evidence against their daughter that they relocated to Manchester from the cathedral city of Hereford, on the England-Wales border. It was a major move indiciative of their commitment, as following the arrest, John and Susan’s lives were turned upside-down. But who are the parents of Lucy Letby?
Who are John and Susan Letby?
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At the time of Lucy Letby’s birth in Hereford, on 4 January 1990, John was a furniture retail boss and Susan an accounts clerk - aged 44 and 29 respectively. They were a tight family and Letby was the only daughter - and the first in the wider family to leave home and go to university.
Lucy Letby was first arrested over five years ago, on July 3 2018. (Cheshire Police)The parents found it difficult when Letby left to go to university, according to texts between Letby and a friend. “I couldn’t leave my parents,” Letby said. “They would be completely devastated. Find it hard enough being away from me now and it's only 100 miles. I came here to uni and didn’t go back. They hate it and I feel guilty for staying here sometimes but it’s what I want.”
She said to another: “My parents worry massively about everything and anything, hate that I live alone etc. I feel bad because I know it’s really hard for them especially as I’m an only child, and they mean well, just a little suffocating at times and constantly feel guilty.”
During her studies Letby went on work placements at the Countess of Chester, on the children’s ward or the neonatal unit. She started working full time there from January 2012 as a Band 5 nurse and three years later qualified to work with infants who needed intensive care.
Initially Letby lived in the on-site accommodation at Ash House before moving to a flat in Chester in April 2014. In June 2015 she returned to Ash House and then moved into her home in Westbourne Road, Blacon, on April 6, 2016.
Lucy Letby was found guilty on August 18 2023 of murdering seven babies. (MEN MEDIA)
John and Susan used to take Letby to Torquay on holiday - before her crimes were revealed. (PA)Lucy Letby's life outside her crimes
In the period she was said to have been intentionally harming babies at work, Letby had an “active social life” with salsa dancing classes a particular favourite. She was also a regular gym-goer and a member of a local pub quiz team. Letby enjoyed holidays with friends and in the summer of 2015 was among revellers at a colleague’s hen party in York before she attended the wedding later that year.
She told the court her health was “fine” in 2015 and 2016, although in 2015 she had been diagnosed with optic neuritis, a condition caused by inflammation of the optic nerve which can cause pain and blurred vision. Letby received treatment at the Countess and also at the Walton Centre in Liverpool before the issue was “resolved”.
In June 2016 she confided to a doctor colleague about a problem with an underactive thyroid. She told him: “I’ve been hypothyroid since I was 11, having blips last 12 months, just increased dose again to see if that does the trick…last time it was increased I was over treated & had tremors etc..”
She said she was on antidepressants after her mental health deteriorated when she was accused of harming babies and was still taking them.
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