Lucy Letby

[taddy]

In 1967 we lost our first baby when Hazel miscarried at three months, in 1968 Hazel carried a boy who she delivered at seven months unfortunately deceased, although we had three more thankfully healthy children Hazel never forgot the baby boy who is buried in the baby section of Accrington Cemetery and she still leaves flowers on his grave to this day fifty five years later. I cannot think what the parents of the helpless babies that this psychopathic monster murdered are going through, I hope that she gets everything that she deserves from the inmates of which ever Women's prison she is incarcerated in, I hope that she lives long and suffers.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Taddy for a quarter of a century(doesn’t that sound a long time) I worked in Women’s health.
I supported women and families who lost babies. Not just those who miscarried, but those who had stillborn babies.
When I first started these babies were treated as clinical waste…incinerated.
Although there were stories (I have no idea if they were true) that some babes were buried by undertakers with an adult to accompany them to wherever they were going.
I worked with other people to get these babies to be treated as babies….and cremated with a celebrant present to say something over their small bodies.
A local funeral company were very good and they would cremate the older babies (like the son you lost Taddy) in a proper ceremony with family present…and they did this at no cost to the parents.

The loss of a baby never leaves you…EVER.

I cannot account for what went on in Lucy Letbys head.
I do not understand how someone who was in such a privileged position, could abuse that position.

I suspect that this woman is in the grip of Munchausens by Proxy…..this is a recognised mental condition.
It does not excuse or absolve her of the actions….nor does it go any way to consoling the parents of the babies she murdered so callously…there is NO consolation for these parents.
They will always be traumatised by the loss of their babies in such terrible circumstances.

It is also such a shame that such a clever young woman chose to use her talents for evil instead of good.
She has to live with her actions for the next four or five decades in prison.

The other victims in this sorry story are her parents. They are guilty of nothing yet their lives will surely be blighted by the actions of their daughter…they can never escape the awful scrutiny of their lives.

Sad, sad, sad!

[lettie]

Ahhhh Margaret, I remember the work you did around bereavement care for families experiencing the loss of a baby. That work paved the way for the services we have today, and I'm glad to say that they are excellent.

I also considered Munchausens by Proxy for Lucy Letby. In my mind it is just inconceivable that a professional in her privileged position can do this. There's no way she can be in her right mind, especially as she must've known she was under suspicion. Maybe she is a sociopath.

However, I have also found it disconcerting that a lot of the evidence against her was circumstantial, I feel that there will be an appeal coming on.

As a health professional (although semi-retired these days), I really do hope that there is a thorough and independent investigation into the complaints against her to managers and how this was handled. This must never be allowed to happen again in any NHS Trust. I completely agree that a charge of corporate manslaughter needs to be considered for the managers involved. I feel that this will drag on for years yet, and will prolong the suffering of those grieving families, and also the family of Lucy Letby, who have done nothing wrong but are no doubt suffering too.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Lettie you have said something out loud that I had thought, but was too cowardly to post.
Cases like this inevitably stir up the hatred of the public purely because it is quite inconceivable that someone with her skills and in the profession she chose, has done something so terrible.

I also think those managers who were told of the issues, but seemed slack in responding, do not get away with covering up their weaknesses....that maybe at some point they are prosecuted because they failed in their duty of care. Not just to the babies that were lost, but to the staff...and Lucy Letby herself.
Yes, there is still a long road of grief ahead...for the parents of the babies and for Lucy's parents too.

as for the work I did ensuring lost babies were recognised and marked....I consider it to be the best work I was ever involved in because I know how it helped grieving parents feel their loss was important

[shillelagh]

i said to the spugster .. how could someone do that .. shes a nurse .. she trained for years to be a nurse .. why would she do that .. its hard to understand ...

many of my extended family work for the nhs .. one of my nieces is a midwife .. and she worked so hard to pass all her exams to qualify and train ... and she loves it ..

that is why i cant understand how she could do something like that

[landhusweg]

Now in prison, I hope she suffers in pain for the rest of her life, the same as the poor families of those murdered children.
That’s all I have to say.
Sorry, just one more thing: can’t they bring back the death penalty just once more?

[Margaret Pilkington]

I am unsure that prison is the right place for her(because if she did these terrible things, then her mental state has to be called into question)...and as to the death penalty...well yes I think it should be an available option for crimes where you can be absolutely CERTAIN that you have caught the right person.

That the evidence is rock solid, but part of me is conflicted about that too...we want to hang a murderer but we are happy for the state to murder someone(and I never thought I would say that, but looking at how screwed our police / justice system is, I do not trust it to do a good job)

Like lettie says I think a lot of the evidence is questionable which is why it took the Jury so long to reach a majority verdict(not a unanimous one).
The problem with cases such as this is it stirs up public hatred and that means that emotions get in the way of logic. I defy anyone to tell me that those jurors were not influenced by what they read or heard.....and that could have meant their judgements were flawed.

Now I know that I may get lots of people who disagree with this, but I have a little itch of doubt...and it is in a place where it can't be scratched.

Whatever happens to Lucy Letby...whether she spends the rest of her life in prison...it can never bring back those babies and the parents of those babies will never ever get over their loss...but then Lucy Letby's parents did nothing wrong and they are going to be suffering in a similar way.
Their guilt by association will never go away and they will be pointed out wherever they go