WITH pain etched across their faces, Lucy Letby’s parents clutched desperately onto one another’s hands as they walked through the media scrum and into Manchester Crown Court.
It would be here, in the cold light of day, that Jonathan, 79, and Susan Letby, 65, watched in agony as their beloved only child was handed a whole life order for murdering seven helpless babies and attempting to murder seven more.
PALucy Letby is serving 15 whole-life orders for killing seven babies and attempting to murder seven others[/caption]
PALucy’s parents John and Susan Letby outside Manchester Crown Court ahead of the verdict in her first case[/caption]
The couple, described by neighbours as modest and professional, were ever-present throughout their daughter’s case, even moving out of their Hereford home to a flat nearer Manchester Crown Court to support her through proceedings.
But they have remained steadfastly tight-lipped on their daughter’s conviction.
The Sun can exclusively reveal the pair have shared their personal thoughts with statistical misrepresentation consultant, Professor Richard Gill.
A ‘very touching’ message
Professor Gill has previously helped free multiple medical professionals wrongfully convicted of killing patients, including Dutch nurse Lucia de Berk and Italian nurse Daniela Poggiali.
He is among an increasing number of supporters who believe Letby, now 35, to be innocent, and has been pushing for a retrial – although many others, including the victims’ families, have blasted the campaign to free her.
Professor Gill wrote to the couple and received a personal response from the usually fiercely private pair.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: “I have written to her parents and I actually got a letter back from them, which was very touching.
“It was two letters because there was a formal letter… the standard one which they send to anyone who sent them a letter, but also a longer personal letter in which they said they knew about what I’d been doing.
“That was a very nice personal letter.”
In one correspondence, seen by The Sun, Letby’s parents reveal they “firmly believe” their daughter’s convictions will be “the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history”.
They thank Prof Gill for his work in support of their daughter’s cause – and that they are pleased “public opinion is beginning to sway” in her favour “at last”.
Prof Gill – who has argued he can prove Letby’s innocence – wrote back asking if he could give them a call “to talk about some more things”.
However, he never got a response.
He added: “We know they don’t like publicity and that they get a lot of unwelcome attention.
“I think that’s a pity because at this stage it wouldn’t harm Lucy’s case if they got interviewed by one of the journalists who are sympathetic to her and the idea that this is a miscarriage of justice.”
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesThe road in Chester where Letby previously lived[/caption]
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesLetby’s former home, which she sold after her arrest[/caption]
Prof Gill added he has also written a couple of letters to Letby herself – who is said to be inundated with mail, both good and bad – in prison, but is unsure if they’ve ever reached her.
He is hopeful of meeting her inside prison, as he did with nurse de Berk, who was jailed for life in 2003 after being found guilty of the murders of seven patients and the attempted murders of another three.
I’d like to visit the street where Lucy lived and walk from there to the hospital… these are not pilgrimages. It’s about getting a feeling for the people involved in the story.
Professor Richard Gill
He also visited Poggiali, who was accused of killing 38 patients before being exonerated, and Ben Geen, a former Brit nurse who was convicted of killing two patients at a hospital in Banbury.
“They were all three extremely moving experiences,” he recalls.
“I treasured those experiences. They further confirmed my already strong suspicion they were innocent.”
‘I’d like to visit Lucy’s street’
While he also hopes to meet Letby in person, in the meantime the professor previously travelled to the killer’s former hometown of Chester around a year ago.
He says: “I saw the town, I walked the city walls. You can see the mountains of Wales in the distance. It’s beautiful and interesting.”
He also plans to go back, this time to visit the street where Letby lived, and do the short 20-minute walk to the Countess of Chester Hospital where she worked in 2015 and 2016.
PAA court sketch of Letby during one of her trials[/caption]
Prof Richard Gill is convinced Letby is innocent
AlamySupporters of Letby demonstrate outside the High Court in London during her appeal hearing[/caption]
He says: “The next time I’m in Chester I’d like to visit the street where Lucy lived and walk from there to the hospital.
“I already visited the hospital. These are not pilgrimages. It’s about getting a feeling for the people involved in the story.”
He’s not the only one said to have a fascination with retracing Letby’s old life.
Previous reports have suggested other supporters of Letby – a mix of those convinced of her innocence and others harbouring a ghoulish fascination with the case – have been organising ‘tours’ of her old haunts, including gathering outside her old home in Chester.
‘None of it is clear cut, is it?’
With this in mind, it’s unsurprising that when The Sun spoke to Letby’s old neighbours they were keen to distance themselves from the notorious case which has no doubt blighted the area.
Letby moved from nursing accommodation into the neighbourhood in April 2016, purchasing her three-bed home for £179,000.
Following her dramatic arrest there in 2018, she sold the semi-detached property in 2019 for £201,000, to a man said to have known about the charges against her.
He told The Sun he did not wish to speak about the shocking case.
Another neighbour meanwhile – a retired NHS worker who had worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital at the same time as Letby – questioned the anomaly of the high number of baby deaths in the maternity unit.
She said: “The amount of deaths was reportedly higher than the norm, but was put down to an anomaly.
“We don’t know if this was because they were trying to save more babies, which being so ill would have died anywhere else.
“We are all retired in this part of the road and we all have our own opinions on things, but we don’t make them public.”
Can anyone say her conviction is now beyond reasonable doubt?
Lucy Letby’s former neighbour
Another resident added: “I always thought that such a lot of the evidence was circumstantial – we don’t know for sure what has gone on.”
One pensioner walking his dog on the street added: “All this extra information and evidence that has come out since the verdict certainly causes some extra confusion.
“Can anyone say her conviction is now beyond reasonable doubt?”
Another neighbour added: “All this other evidence should surely have been presented by both sides. The omissions seem damning.”
One lady living close to the former Letby home said: “People have their own views…none of it is clear cut, is it?”
Many others said they didn’t know Letby personally, while others said they hadn’t noticed any large groups visiting the scene, suggesting the reported Letby ‘tours’ had yet to take off.
Support has soared
Regardless, there’s no doubt online support for Letby has notably soared, especially in recent months.
Sickeningly, Facebook groups, including the now defunct ‘Pervert$ unite to support Lucy Letby’, previously saw members gushing over their love for her.
More recently, a sick pub birthday party was held, and there was even talk of a Letby-themed speed dating event.
WikipediaNurse Lucia de Berk was wrongfully convicted of murder in the Netherlands[/caption]
SWNSKiller nurse Letby has twice failed to appeal her convictions[/caption]
Timeline of horror – how Letby targeted babies
LUCY Letby carried out her horrific crimes in a year-long period at Countess of Chester Hospital.
She used insulin and air to inject newborns while working on the neo-natal ward.
The collapses and deaths of the children were not “naturally-occurring tragedies” and instead the gruesome work of “poisoner” Letby.
Her rampage was finally uncovered after staff grew suspicious of the “significant rise” in the number of babies dying or suffering “catastrophic” collapses.
Letby was found to be the “common denominator” among the horrifying incidents.
Officers then searched her three-bedroom home in Chester and discovered a chilling cache of evidence.
The nurse had scribbled haunting notes in diaries and on Post-It notes, including one that read: “I am evil I did this.”
The note added: “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 person.”
A probe into whether Letby harmed any other babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital is ongoing.
A corporate manslaughter investigation is also ongoing, as is now a gross negligence manslaughter one.
And last month, an international panel of specialists and Letby’s defence team claimed bad medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths.
Families of the victims have hit out at calls for the public inquiry into her crimes to be suspended.
Deeply involved
Prof Gill, who is based in the Netherlands and lectures at Leiden University, recently travelled to the UK to take part in the pro-Letby demonstration outside Liverpool Town Hall.
The demonstration took place as the Thirlwall Inquiry reconvened to present conclusions on events surrounding the deaths at the Countess of Chester.
He says: “I’ve been following it since 2017 [and] been deeply involved in it.”
The 73-year-old added: “I certainly have no personal interest in Lucy herself – she’s younger than my own children.”
His revelations come days after Prof Gill slammed Cheshire Police after it announced that staff at Letby’s former hospital could now face corporate manslaughter charges amid growing concern she was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
The force said its current probe had widened into gross negligence manslaughter.
Prof Gill told The Sun he believes the police are using a “diversionary tactic”.
He said: “It will be interesting. Those top managers can pay for top lawyers, and they can get good expert advice.
“NHS statistics show that the increase in mortality can be fully explained by changes in admissions policy.
“I think this is a diversionary tactic by the police which will backfire on them.”
AlamyPolice have widened their investigation to look into gross negligence manslaughter for staff at the Countess of Chester Hospital (file image)[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
