Lucy Letby was a 'normal girl who seemed lovely', say friends and neighbours

19 August 2023 , 18:13

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Lucy Letby was a 'normal girl who seemed lovely', say friends and neighbours

Stunned friends and neighbours of Lucy Letby were yesterday trying to come to terms with her horrific murders.

One woman on the quiet cul-de-sac where Letby grew up said: “I’ve known her since she was a little girl. I thought I knew her, but I guess I didn’t know her at all.”

Another neighbour in her home town of Hereford said: “Her parents absolutely doted on her, it’ll be the end of them. I feel so sorry for them, but I also feel so sorry for all the those parents who have lost their babies.”

Letby attended Ayleston School and Hereford sixth form college before moving north to train as a nurse. Yesterday another neighbour on the street, close to banks of the River Wye, said: “She was just a normal girl, she was quite quiet, but seemed lovely. Her mum and dad doted on her all her life. It’s difficult to take in to be honest.”

Lucy Letby was convicted on Friday

Letby murdered seven babies (MEN MEDIA)

A friend who went to sixth form college with Letby told us: “We didn’t want to believe it, but she’s done it hasn’t she? The jury won’t be wrong. You have to feel so sorry for those families.”

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Letby’s social life revolved around her work, and yesterday it was reported at least three colleagues have been diagnosed with PTSD since her offending came to light. Meanwhile Letby’s parents, Susan and John, haven’t been seen at their home since the start of the trial, another neighbour said.

The couple were there for every single day of trial and were even there when she was arrested at her home for multiple murders. Earlier a secondary school friend, named as Dawn, told the BBC pals were standing by the nurse.

Letby's friends and neighbours have spoken about her conviction

She said: ”I’ve grown up with Lucy and not a single thing that I’ve ever seen or witnessed of Lucy would let me for a moment believe that she was capable of the things she was being accused of. Unless Lucy turned around and said ‘I’m guilty’ I will never believe that she’s guilty.”

The Letbys have been described as a close-knit family, with her parents proud when their daughter became the first in their wider family to go to university and move away from home. But her trial heard that Mr Letby, now 77, and Mrs Letby, 63, came to “hate it” when she did not return home after her graduation and that made her feel “constantly guilty”.

Messaging a friend who had joked about emigrating to New Zealand, Letby said: “I couldn’t leave my parents. They would be completely devastated. Find it hard enough being away from me now and its 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.” Letby returned to her childhood semi-detached home while on bail and reportedly attended yoga classes at a Hereford spa.

Phil Cardy