Psychologist warns about Lucy Letby's bedroom and 'desire to cling to childhood'

29 August 2023 , 10:16

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Lucy Letby was sentenced to life in jail for murdering seven babies, and attempting to kill six more (Image: PA)

On Monday, August 21, Lucy Letby was sentenced to life in jail, with no chance of release, after she was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder another six while working as a nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit from 2015 to 2016.

Since then, people have been trying to wrap their minds around the evil acts carried out by the 33 year old, who is thought to be the most prolific child serial killer in modern British history. As part of this, many have been pouring over images from Letby's home which were shown to jurors during her trial. These images included pictures of her messy bedroom, which contained teddy bears, fairy lights over the bed, a pink dressing gown and inspirational quotes on her wall such as 'Leave Sparkles Wherever You Go'.

Lucy Letby's bedroom at Westbourne Road, Chester, which was shown in court (PA)

Now, an expert has revealed what Letby's bedroom says about her personality, explaining that it hints at a desire to live in the past. Much was made at court of the former nurse's loving childhood as the daughter of two doting parents. And forensic psychologist, Dr Naomi Murphy, who has spent 25 years working with serious violent and sexually violent criminals in prisons and hospitals, told the Mirror her bedroom decor suggests she has struggled to let go of that stage of life.

"Her bedroom does have a slightly immature feel to it - perhaps more consistent with a teenager than a grown woman. This might suggest a desire to cling to an earlier phase of life," she said. However, Dr Murphy warns that it would be wrong to place any great weight on her bedroom.

She continued: "Personally, I don't think we can set too much store in what her bedroom looks like.

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"There are other young women who wear a lot of pink, decorate their cars with flowers, and who still like a cuddly toy on their bed. We need to be careful not to read too much into something that could be quite innocuous. I know people are hungry for facts to try and help them make sense of something so awful and frightening but really there's a strong possibility the only people who will ever know why Lucy Letby killed is Ms Letby and those she may open up to."

While on first look, Letby's bedroom might have appeared rather childlike, a deeper delve inside the space saw police recover thousands of sinister items that later helped to convict her, including a Morrisons shopping bag containing 31 handover sheets, a blood gas reading for a child she allegedly attacked and a paper towel containing handwritten resuscitation notes.

Twenty-one of the sheets included the names of babies she was said to have harmed. Letby denied she had purposely collected them. Giving evidence, she said: "They have no meaning to me at all. I have copious pieces of paper and cards that I have not thrown away my whole life."

An expert has warned not to 'read too much' into Letby's bedroom (PA)

Jurors heard some of the sheets were found in a bin bag in her garage. However, one was found in "pristine condition" dated June 1, 2010 - her first day of work as a student at the neonatal unit. The jury was also shown a 2016 diary that had been recovered from a chest of drawers.

A reference to "twins" was recorded for April 8, the date of birth for two twin children the Crown say Letby attempted to murder, the court heard. On April 9 a note stating "twin resus" was made. A green Post-it note was found inside the diary. Part of the note read "I don't deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough to care for them", "I am a horrible evil person" and in capital letters "I am evil I did this".

Meanwhile, a search of the garage revealed another handwritten note found in a black bin bag. Phrases on the note included "killing me softly", "broken hearted" and "no-one will ever know what happened or why". In a documentary made by Cheshire Constabulary, Detective Inspector Rob Woods said: "The amount of material we found at her home address was, I think, a massive surprise to us when she was first arrested.

"It gave us a really good steer for the second occasion as to what sort of things we were looking for. Something that's been very useful to the enquiry has been Miss Letby's diaries. They appeared to be and it became clear later that it was almost a code of coloured asterisks and various other things put in a diary that marked significant events."

Courtney Pochin