The childhood friend of nurse and convicted serial child killer Lucy Letby has spoken out just days after Letby was sentenced to life in prison.
Letby, 33, murdered the five baby boys and two baby girls at the neonatal unit of Countess of Chester hospital in northern England over 13 months from 2015, injecting the infants with insulin or air, or force-feeding them milk.
Some of those she attacked were twins — in one case she murdered both siblings, in another she killed two of three triplets, and in two instances she murdered one twin but failed in her attempts to kill the other.
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However childhood friend Dawn Howe said she refused to believe Letby was guilty, describing her as “the kindest person I have ever known”.
“Unless Lucy turned around and said ‘I’m guilty’, I will never believe that she’s guilty,” Howe said, according to a Times report citing a BBC interview.
“We know she couldn’t have done anything that she’s accused of, so without a doubt, we stand by her.
“I grew up with Lucy and not a single thing that I’ve ever seen or witnessed of Lucy would let me for a moment believe she is capable of the things she’s accused of.”
Howe went on to describe the charges against Letby as the “most out-of-character accusation that you could ever put against Lucy”.
“Think of your most kind gentle soft friend and think that they’re being accused of harming babies,” she said.
Letby was found guilty last week of seven counts of murder and seven of attempted murder following a 10-month trial at Manchester Crown Court.
Judge, James Goss, who sentenced Letby to life imprisonment with no prospect of release described the murders as “cruel and calculated”.
“There was a deep malevolence bordering on sadism in your actions… You have no remorse. There are no mitigating factors … You will spend the rest of your life in prison,” he said as the parents of the babies sobbed in the courtroom.
Whole life orders are very rare, and only three women in the UK have received such a sentence before, including serial killers Myra Hindley and Rosemary West.
Police have found no motive for her crimes and Goss said only Letby knew the reasons for her actions.
She refused to leave the cells to hear her sentence being handed down, leading to demands that criminals must be forced to hear the effect of their actions on their victims or their families.
The mother of one of the victims described it as a final act of wickedness.
The harrowing crimes committed by Letby, who was in her 20s when she carried out her killing spree at her workplace, have horrified the UK, wrecked the lives of victims’ families and caused lasting damage to her colleagues.
– With Reuters
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