In Manchester, England this week the woman pictured above was found guilty of terrible crimes. As a paediatric nurse, she had taken the opportunity to murder seven vulnerable babies on a neonatal hospital ward in the city of Chester. She had also attempted to murder six others. There may have been other similar crimes that we do not know about.
Her name is Lucy Letby. The photo at the top of this blogpost was only released in the last four days. I think it shows her emptiness. A slightly twisted mouth and hollow eyes. She was caught and the game was up.
I think that this is the picture that we should see from now on - whenever her case is reported. Previously, we had become used to a very different image of her. A pretty and devoted paediatric nurse sparkling in her uniform but this is not who she was . It was just a disguise...
Letby will be sentenced on Monday and of course it is firmly expected that she will spend the rest of her life in prison. She broke the hearts of several families and broke the trust that had been placed in her. Above all she stole away the lives of seven tiny children who had uncharted paths to follow. Lives of hope and dreams and ups and downs and love and tears and laughter. She had no right to do that. No right at all.
Letby has already said that she will not attend her sentencing. I think that it is so wrong. You many not agree with me but I would have her dragged into court and be forced to face the music - including the statements from bereaved parents. She should not have any choice in the matter in my humble opinion.
I find it hard to understand how any convicted individual is allowed to refuse attendance at the sentencing, unless medically unfit.
ReplyDeleteThe babies couldn't refuse to be murdered.
DeleteThese are very sad cases for so many people. One wonders why someone like this can not be identified before they do harm.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me wonder what her parents knew about her - deep down.
DeleteAs the grandmother of a brand new grandson (born 2 months early but now home), this boggles my mind. That ANY person much less a nurse could do this. Do they have any idea why?
ReplyDeleteNobody knows why. She hasn't said. I think it is because she is both mad and wicked.
DeleteBy the way Margaret: CONGRATULATIONS!
I agree, Mr Pud. Her crimes are among the worst than can be committed. She forfeited any rights when she killed those babies and should be made to see the horror her actions have delivered to those families. I am not normally one for capital punishment but sometimes ...
ReplyDeleteLocking her up for life will cost this country a hell of a lot of money. I hope she is grateful.
DeleteI personally would like to never see her face again and never hear her name again, and just know that she has been locked away for the rest of her life.
ReplyDeleteThere is too much macabre glorification of killers so yeah - lock her up and throw away the key.
DeleteThis is in the top news even here in Nova Scotia. How very sad for the families of those babies. (I have to disagree, though, with your assessment of her character from looking at a photo where she wasn't smiling. Heaven help me if you ever see a photo of me not smiling! It doesn't do many of us justice to take a serious photo.)
ReplyDeleteA good point well made.
DeleteThe matter was widely reported here and I absolutely agree with you. The guilty should have to face their victims.
ReplyDeleteShe didn't give those babies a chance to opt out.
DeleteI would drag her in for her sentencing too. This story was on our TV news last night.
ReplyDeleteYou get her left arm and I'll get her right - even though I wouldn't really want to touch someone like that.
DeleteThick rubber gloves like fishermen wear in the arctic.
DeleteRed is right that so many others will be suffering - think of the parents for example.
ReplyDeleteI find it unbelievable that her crimes were reported and ignored for so long.
ReplyDeleteLike Jenny_o, I don‘t think we should read too much into a photo. If you should ever get so see the photo in my passport, you‘d probably have me down as a serial killer or at least a deeply unhappy person. Of course you have no way of knowing for sure, but I am neither. Honest!
ReplyDeleteWhat Lucy Letby has done is beyond comprehension. And that she could opt out of being in court for her sentencing is, too.
There are no words for the evil deeds she has committed but she should be dragged into the court room and made to face her wicked crimes. What goes on behind those eyes?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that she should be dragged into court as that will help bring closure for the families that have suffered at her hands. It always amazes me how somebody who has done such heinous crimes is a coward when it comes to facing their own fate. Just as much to blame is the hospital trust who tried to hush it all down.
ReplyDeleteIncomprehensible evil.
ReplyDeleteThere are no words at all to express my sorrow for her victims and their families.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised she DOES have a choice, to be honest. What was her motive for this crime? (I've seen the stories but I haven't read them.)
ReplyDeleteWhat a tragic story, Neil.
ReplyDeleteTo outlive one's child is said to be the worst misfortune.
ReplyDeleteTo know that your baby has been murdered in the maternity unit is hell.
Last night I went out late to my local Tesco and passed a little restaurant
run by southern Indians, Madhras Dhosa (formerly the Banana Leaf).
A dark-skinned lady and her husband were sitting outside in the warm night;
the woman who was dandling her infant on her lap smiled at me.
Lucy Letby had a severe mental disorder yet she was manipulative too.
No one we know would want to harm a child.
I can still see the lady and her happy little boy from last night.
There are so many aspects of this case that are hard to get the head around. Why was she allowed to get away with it for so long, despite deep concerns from so many people? What malfunction/trauma could ever cause anybody to think of, and perform, these horrible, horrible crimes - is it something warped in her nature or the effects of nurture/environment? So many families torn apart by the loss of a much wanted child, more children left physically and mentally damaged by her actions, and yet those parents acted with such dignity as the trial dragged on and on, whilst she refused to show, and is balking at doing so for the sentencing. It has cost thousands of pounds and will continue to do so, will impact people's trust in the professionals they need when they and their newborns are most vulnerable, will live forever in the minds of the jurors and police who dealt with it, and appears to have been totally calculated and worked out. I can't comprehend such evil. Normally, my take is that usually people don't hurt others unless they have been hurt themselves, and would never condone capital punishment, but I really do think that, in this case, it is justified. She definitely should be forced to be in court for her sentencing. The sad thing is, Neil, that instinct tells me she will be the subject of umpteen dramas, books and radio plays, effectively making a celebrity of her; such is our ghoulish society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Mr. Pudding.
ReplyDeleteShe has also reduced trust in NHS maternity nursing in general. Young Mums will always now be looking over their shoulders to make sure another Letby isn't lurking. She will find life very difficult in prison; unless of course she's housed in some luxury wing where they receive special attention, etc. I hope I never hear her name again.
ReplyDelete