Top cop who brought down Beverley Allitt brands Lucy Letby 'a copycat killer'
The detective who brought down serial killer nurse Beverley Allitt has dubbed Lucy Letby a 'copycat murderer'.
On Monday evil Letby was given a whole-life sentence after being found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others. The heinous killings took place as she worked as a nurse at the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire between June 2015 and June 2016.
The 33-year-old's crimes means she is now the most prolific child killer in modern UK history - she is also the fourth woman in British history to be handed down a whole-life jail sentence. Her murderous actions have a chilling resemblance to the case of Beverley Allitt who murdered four babies at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital in 1991.
The hospital worker notoriously nicknamed the "Angel of Death" injected her victims with substances such as air and insulin. Letby used the same methods on her victims.
Evil nurse Lucy Letby (PA)
Killer nurse Beverley Allitt (PA)Retired Det Supt Stuart Clifton described Letby as a 'copycat murderer' who may have been inspired by Allitt. He told ITV News: "It's almost like she read the Allitt book.
Lucy Letby guilty of murdering 7 babies as Angel of Death faces life sentence
"There are so many parallels between this and the Letby case. I have never been able to understand how someone in the caring profession could do this. To me it beggars belief that there's more than one person that has committed these actions against babies."
Allitt murdered seven-week-old Liam Taylor, 11-year-old Timothy Hardwick, two-month-old Becky Phillips and 15-month-old Claire Peck. Allitt, now 54, was also convicted of attempting to murder three babies and causing grievous bodily harm to a further six.
Allitt is now 54 (Quest Rest/ British Police: Our Toughest Cases)A probe was only launched after a series of unexplained deaths at the hospital – with Allitt on shift on each occasion. She received 13 life sentences at Nottingham Crown Court in May 1993.
She was given a minimum of 30 years but was sent to Rampton after medics ruled she was a risk to herself. Doctors believe she suffered from Munchausen syndrome or Munchausen syndrome by proxy, causing her to inflict injury on others to attract attention.
Doctors believe Allitt suffered from Munchausen syndrome or Munchausen syndrome by proxy (ITV News)Mr Clifton, 79, from Boston, said: "Anything like this inquiry stays with you through your life. You have to feel for the parents of these children who were obviously distraught." David Crampton, 68, whose son Paul was five months old when Allitt attacked him, fought for a public inquiry after she was sentenced to life in 1993.
The Government will now be holding an inquiry into Letby's crimes which will investigate how she was able to kill for so long - despite concerns being raised by senior doctors. Mr Crampton wants the Letby inquiry introduce a “pattern spotting” warning system in hospitals.
Letby murdered seven babies (Chester Standard / SWNS.com)The retired construction boss said:“In the Allitt case, the process wasn’t there to stop her becoming a multiple murderer and from what I’ve seen of the Letby case the process wasn’t there to stop her either. If there’s an unusual pattern of events happening in a hospital there needs to be swift action taken.
“You can’t stop a person intent on harming children from doing so, but you should be able to say ‘we only have these incidents once a year and now we have had two in one week, we need to do something’. Lives can be saved if you can put a process in place to swiftly raise a red flag if an unusual pattern of events takes place.
“The NHS is something we need to treasure, support and protect. People like Allitt and Letby are very unusual but the harm and damage they do is incalculable. That’s why we need a process by which that pattern can be recognised and stopped.”
David, whose son Paul, now 30, made a full recovery and has enjoyed a successful career after obtaining a Master’s degree, believes hospitals would be able to quickly implement measures to save lives through such a system.
Police fear killer nurse Lucy Letby has many more helpless victims
David, who still lives near the hospital where Allitt tried to kill Paul, says: “When I gave evidence at the inquiry I said ‘let’s imagine Allitt was not involved in these crimes and these children were victims of an infection or faulty drugs.’ What it shows is the hospital’s inability to deal with a developing crisis. You had an unusual pattern of unexplained collapses of children over a 60 day period. And you had people on the ground who believed something was happening on the ward.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
