Lucy Letby: Parents of baby killer’s victims reveal their heartbreak in court
The mother of a baby murdered by Lucy Letby said her experience in hospital was “like something out of a horror story” as the parents of newborns attacked by the killer nurse revealed their heartbreak in court.
The mother of premature baby Child D said the funeral was held the day before her due date, and the newborn’s organs could not be donated because a post-mortem had to be performed.
Another woman whose two children E and F were attacked by Letby said they were born after painful rounds of IVF. “No children in the world were more wanted than them,” she added.
Letby is due to be sentenced later after she was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
‘Sadistic’ Letby refusing to leave cells – follow live sentencing updates
‘His murderer was watching us’
The mother of a baby referred to as Child C to protect his identity blamed herself for his death, saying she thought to herself: “What if I had not gone to bed that night? Maybe he would still be here.”
She told the court: “The trauma of that night will live with us all until the day we die. Knowing now his murderer was watching us… was like something out of a horror story.”
The mother of Child C also said she would open her son’s memory box in the days after his death, wearing his footprints around her neck to feel close to him.
But she added that after Letby’s arrest the mementoes felt “tainted”.
However she is now able to wear the mementoes again for the first time in five years, telling the court: “I know they represent the love I have for my son and I will not allow evil to take that. They represent justice and the truth.”
‘We hope you spend every day suffering’
A twin boy and girl, Child A and Child B respectively, were targeted by Letby in 2015.
The boy died while his sister survived.
The mother of the babies told the court: “What should have been the happiest time of our lives became our worst nightmare.”
She added that after her son died the family made sure there was always somebody by their daughter’s side.
“We are so thankful that we had that fear for Child B as it saved her life,” the mother added.
In a message directed at Letby, who has refused to attend her sentencing, the mother continued: “Little did we know you were waiting for us to leave so you could attack the one thing that gave us reason to live.”
She says there will always be a “gaping hole” where their son should be.
“We hope you live a very long life and spend every single day suffering for what you have done.”
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Moment of Lucy Letby’s arrest
Mother’s heart ‘shattered into a thousand pieces’
The mother of premature baby girl Child D was emotional as she said Letby’s “wicked sense of entitlement and abuse of her role as a trusted nurse is truly a scandal”.
“Lucy Letby, you failed God and the plans we had for (Child D).”
She added that her heart “shattered into a thousand pieces” when her daughter died.
She says she questioned if she had done something wrong, missed something or “failed her daughter”.
The mother then described how she has struggled with “grief and depression” during her fight for justice.
“My marriage is also scarred by all the hurdles we went through. At first, we were each other’s rocks… it has been hard to keep strong together.”
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How the police caught Lucy Letby
‘Significant harm and cruelty’
The mother of boys children E and F had the twins after several rounds of IVF.
Child E died while his brother survived.
“Lucy was aware of our journey and deliberately caused significant harm and cruelty to our boys,” she said with emotion thick in her voice.
“No children in the world were more wanted than them.”
Their son now has complex learning difficulties, which they believe is a direct result of his being poisoned with insulin.
“Nothing can change what has happened to us, we are living with a life sentence because of Lucy’s crimes.”
The mother also called Letby’s decision not to appear in court for her sentencing “one final act of wickedness from a coward”.
“Even in these final days of the trial she has tried to control things, the disrespect she has shown the families and the court show what type of person she is.”
She finished by calling Letby “nothing” before returning to sit with the other families.
Mother of triplets feels unable to speak in court
Children O and P were two triplet babies murdered by Letby.
The baby killer even took a photograph of them in a cot after their deaths.
Their mother provided a pre-recorded message to the court because she felt unable to enter the witness box.
She said Letby was unconsolable after the deaths of the babies.
“I only have one photograph of me holding all three boys together,” she says.
“It was Lucy Letby that dressed Child P after his passing and took his footprints which were stored in a memory box.”
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Letby ‘meets whole-life sentence threshold’
Baby left disabled after attack
Letby attempted to murder six babies during her time on the hospital’s neonatal unit – targeting Child G twice.
The baby girl was the result of IVF, which had cost the family great expense abroad.
Child G was left disabled after the attacks.
Her mother now finds it difficult to trust people who work in hospitals, but the parents need nurses to visit them every week to help support them and their child.
Child G’s father told the court: “Everything feels like a constant battle just to have the essential things that Child G needs during her daily life.”
He says his daughter will “never have a sleepover with a best friend, or go to high school and graduate. She will never have a first kiss, a boyfriend, or get married”.
“She will always be in her chair,” he added.
Mother now wants baby to home-schooled
The mother of Child N, who Letby tried to murder in June 2016, says she knew her son had been “deliberately harmed”.
“I just kept questioning why our healthy baby boy was fine one minute and then bleeding from the mouth and needing CPR the next.”
She added that she wants her child to be home-schooled because her belief in people in positions of trust has been broken.
UK
MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace steps down as Kirsty Wark among 13 who claim he made inappropriate sexual jokes
MasterChef host Gregg Wallace has stepped down over allegations he made a series of inappropriate sexual comments on a range of programmes over 17 years.
Broadcaster Kirsty Wark is among 13 people who have made claims, with Wallace being investigated by MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK.
In an interview with the BBC, the Newsnight presenter, who was a celebrity contestant on MasterChef in 2011, claimed Wallace used “sexualised language”.
“There were two occasions in particular where he used sexualised language in front of a number of people and it wasn’t as if it was anyone engaged with this,” Wark said.
“It was completely one-way traffic. I think people were uncomfortable and something that I really didn’t expect to happen.”
Sky News has contacted Wallace’s representative for comment.
Kirsty Wark. File pic: PA
‘Fully cooperating’
Banijay UK said the complaints were made to the BBC this week by “individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct while working with Gregg Wallace on one of our shows”.
The company said the 60-year-old, who has been a co-presenter and judge of the popular cooking show since 2005, was “committed to fully cooperating throughout the process”.
“Whilst these complainants have not raised the allegations directly with our show producers or parent company Banijay UK, we feel that it is appropriate to conduct an immediate, external review to fully and impartially investigate,” the company said.
“While this review is under way, Gregg Wallace will be stepping away from his role on MasterChef and is committed to fully co-operating throughout the process.
“Banijay UK’s duty of care to staff is always a priority and our expectations regarding behaviour are made clear to both cast and crew on all productions, with multiple ways of raising concerns, including anonymously, clearly promoted on set.
“Whilst these are historical allegations, incidences brought to our attention where these expectations are not met, are thoroughly investigated and addressed appropriately.”
A BBC spokesman said: “We take any issues that are raised with us seriously and we have robust processes in place to deal with them.
“We are always clear that any behaviour which falls below the standards expected by the BBC will not be tolerated.
“Where an individual is contracted directly by an external production company we share any complaints or concerns with that company and we will always support them when addressing them.”
Previous investigation
Last month, Wallace responded to reports that a previous BBC review had found he could continue working at the corporation following reports of an alleged incident in 2018 when he appeared on Impossible Celebrities.
Wallace said those claims had been investigated “promptly” at the time and said he had not said “anything sexual” while appearing on the game show more than half a decade ago.
In an Instagram post following an article in The Sun newspaper, he wrote: “The story that’s hitting the newspapers was investigated promptly when it happened six years ago by the BBC.
“And the outcome of that was that I hadn’t said anything sexual. I’ll need to repeat this again. I didn’t say anything sexual.”
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Alongside MasterChef, Wallace presented Inside The Factory for BBC Two from 2015.
Wallace and Anne-Marie Sterpini in 2014. Pic: PA
Wallace has featured on various BBC shows over the years, including Saturday Kitchen, Eat Well For Less, Supermarket Secrets, Celebrity MasterChef and MasterChef: The Professionals, as well as being a Strictly Come Dancing contestant in 2014.
He was made an MBE for services to food and charity last year.
Recorded episodes of MasterChef: The Professionals featuring Wallace will be transmitted as planned, the PA news agency understands.
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