Lucy Letby‘s parents were a constant presence during her first trial – they unwaveringly showed up every day of the ten-month proceedings at Manchester Crown Court.
Yet today, John, 77, and Susan, 63, were nowhere to be seen as their serial child killer daughter was found guilty of trying to kill another newborn baby.
Jurors this afternoon took three and a half hours to return their unanimous verdict at the end of a 13-day retrial on a single count of attempted murder.
Letby – who is the most prolific child killer in modern British history – was 26 when she deliberately dislodged the breathing tube of Baby K in the first hours of her life.
In the following hours, the cruel killer tried a further two times to murder the infant who was so tiny she would have fitted into Letby’s open palm.
Lucy Letby (pictured at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2012) was today found guilty of trying to kill another newborn baby
John, 77, and Susan, 63, had attended every day of her original trial in Manchester between October 2022-August 2023 (pictured outside court in October 2022) but did not attend court today
During her original 10-month trial, where she was eventually found guilty of murdering seven newborn babies and attempting to kill six others
The former nurse remained emotionless as the verdict was read out while Baby K’s father held his head in his hands and other relatives cried from the public gallery.
But the criminal’s parents – a retail boss and accounts clerk – did not appear in the court room.
During her original 10-month trial, where she was eventually found guilty of murdering seven newborn babies and attempting to kill six others, her parents had attended court every day so they could hear all the evidence against their daughter.
They relocated from their home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Hereford, where they had lived for for almost four decades after marrying in 1989, to Manchester so they could be nearby.
Throughout the first trial, which ran from October 2022 to August last year, Mrs Letby on occasion broke down in tears and appeared anxious during breaks when her daughter was undergoing particularly tough periods of questioning.
Investigators suspect Letby, who will likely spend the rest of her life in prison, had told them scant detail of the horrific nature of the crimes she was being accused of before it was laid out in front of them in court.
And as the guilty verdicts were returned, Mrs Letby broke into a series of anguished sobs which continued even after she had left the court. At one point she cried out: ‘You can’t be serious. This cannot be right.’
Nothing suggests that Mr and Mrs Letby were anything but caring parents who showered her daughter with love from the moment she was born – five months after they married.
Growing up, Letby was a ‘delight’ to her parents – neighbours remembered.
Body worn camera footage issued by Cheshire Constabulary showing Letby’s arrest
Letby, who worked at the Countess of Cheshire Hospital, giving evidence in court last month
Today’s verdict takes Letby’s tally of convictions to seven murders and seven attempted murders
She had a part-time job at WH Smith in the city, and her parents were immensely proud when she became the first in their family to go to university.
When she attained her honours degree they marked her graduation, in December 2011, with an announcement in their local paper, the Hereford Times.
Alongside a picture of her wearing a mortarboard and clutching her degree certificate, they wrote: ‘Letby Lucy BSc Hons in Child Nursing. We are so proud of you after all your hard work. Love Mum and Dad.’
A similar announcement, with an accompanying photograph of Letby as a young child, was also placed in the same newspaper to mark her 21st birthday.
Texts exchanged between Letby and her colleagues, however, hinted that on occasion she had felt smothered by her parents, feeling guilty about moving away from home.
She explained they missed her and hated her living alone.
She appeared to speak or text them every day and described them as ‘suffocating at times’. She told one doctor friend who was considering moving to New Zealand that she could never do that as it would ‘completely devastate’ them.
‘Find it hard enough being away from me now and it’s only 100 miles,’ she said.
In a message to another friend, she wrote: ‘My parents worry massively about everything & 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.’
A source told the Mail that Letby’s loving mother was distraught when she was arrested – wailing, crying and even telling police, ‘I did it, take me instead,’ in a desperate bid to protect her.
A photo showing Letby during a night out that she shared on her social media
A source told the Mail that Letby’s mother was distraught when she was arrested – wailing, crying and even telling police, ‘I did it, take me instead,’ in a desperate bid to protect her
Today’s verdict takes Letby’s tally of convictions to seven murders and seven attempted murders. She is already serving 14 whole life terms following her original 10-month trial that ended in the same courtroom in August.
After the first trial the killer refused to come to the dock to hear the judge read out his sentencing verdicts, but these were read out by the prosecutor at the start of the latest proceedings as she watched on in court.
Letby, now 34, denied the latest charge, and still maintains her innocence of the crimes she had previously been found guilty of. She insists she has never harmed any baby in her care.
The jury in her original trial were unable to reach a verdict in the case of Baby K and were discharged. This time a new jury found her guilty.
The family of Baby K said today in a statement read out by a family liaison officer: ‘Words cannot effectively explain how we are feeling at this time.
‘To lose a baby is a heartbreaking experience that no parent should ever go through, but to lose a baby then hear of the harm that was inflicted under these circumstances is unimaginable.
Letby wearing an academic gown on her graduation day
The neo-natal ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital where Letby worked
Letby will spend the rest of her life in prison
‘Over the past seven to eight years we have had to go through a long, torturous and emotional journey twice, from losing our precious newborn and grieving her loss, to being told years later that her death or collapse could be suspicious. Nothing could prepare you for that news.
‘Today justice has been served and a nurse who should have been caring for our daughter has been found guilty of harming her, but that will not take away the extreme hurt, anger and distress that we have all had to experience.
‘It also does not provide us with an explanation for why these crimes have taken place. We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb. We may never know why this happened.’
The family further thanked the jury, police, prosecutors and the medical witnesses who appeared at the trial.