Lucy Letby murdered 7 babies. Her family and friends refuse to believe she did it.

In July 2018, John Letby watched as his only child was arrested, handcuffed and led out of the family home by police officers.

He then went inside and made her bed, the courtroom was told during his daughter, Lucy Letby's trial. 

Her mother, Susan, told officers, "I did it. Take me instead," when Lucy was arrested again the following June.

Watch: The moment Lucy Letby was arrested. Post continues below.

Before her 10-month trial began, Lucy's parents relocated to be closer to the court. They attended every single day.

When the jury eventually convicted her of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of another six, Susan collapsed, yelling: "You can't be serious. This cannot be right."

Then when Lucy was handed a whole life order, the family were nowhere to be seen. Letby had refused to attend the sentencing, and it seemed her parents had also stayed away as a mark of solidarity. 

Lucy Letby will die in prison and be remembered as one of the UK's most prolific serial killers.

Between June 2015 and June 2016, Letby, now 33, targeted 17 of the most vulnerable babies while working as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital's infant intensive care unit.

According to prosecutors, she fatally injected the newborns with insulin, air or milk during her night shifts when the parents weren't present.

"What is really fascinating about Letby is how studiously normal she looked. She didn't have the usual risk factors we expect – no poverty, abuse, trauma, deprivation, parental substance addiction, or justice involvement," clinical and forensic psychologist Dr Ahona Guha told Mamamia.

Letby was the first person in her family to attend university, studying nursing at the University of Chester. 

Her parents, John, a furniture boss, and Susan, an accounts clerk, were so delighted they took out an ad in the local paper.

"We are so proud of you after all your hard work. Love Mum and Dad," it read.

They did the same thing when she turned 21, publishing a photo of their daughter when she was a child. 

Then when she moved out, they helped Letby buy her first home, just 1.5 kilometres from the Countess of Chester Hospital. 

John and Susan Letby. Image: Getty.

In January 2012, Letby began working full time at the hospital, before qualifying to work with the intensive care babies in 2015. 

She would tell friends how her parents "hated" she moved away.

"My parents worry massively about everything and anything, [and] hate that I live alone, etc," she told one in a text message. 

"I feel bad because I know it’s really hard for them, especially as I’m an only child, and they mean well, [it's] just a little suffocating at times and [I] constantly feel guilty."

During the trial, jurors were shown pictures of her home. The photos showed a child-like bedroom, adorned with fairy lights, stuffed toys, and affirmation posters.

"She appears to present as much younger and more unformed than she should be – based on chronological age," Dr Guha said of Letby.

Without the attention from her parents, no longer living at home, Letby presumably started seeking it somewhere else.

"For me, the behaviour of Letby is best explained by Munchausen's syndrome. It's a cry for attention and help and a need to be valued and useful," Policing Academic Associate Professor Dr Michael Kennedy told us.

Speaking to BBC's Panorama before her conviction, Letby's high school friend Dawn Howe said, "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," she said.

"It is 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. Unless Lucy turned around and said 'I’m guilty', I will never believe that she’s guilty."

Howe added that nursing was the only profession Letby was ever interested in, after experiencing a difficult birth herself.

"She was very grateful to be alive to the nurses who helped save her life," Howe said.

Letby told her friends not to attend her trial.

Image: Cheshire Constabulary.

The 33-year-old refused to come out of her cell for her sentencing, a move that the father of one of the victims called, "The final act of wickedness from a coward."

When issuing his sentencing remarks as if she was in the room, Justice Goss told the court: "You acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies and in gross breach of the trust that all citizens place in those who work in the medical and caring professions. 

"The babies you harmed were born prematurely and some were at risk of not surviving but in each case you deliberately harmed them, intending to kill them."

The judge said Letby would be provided copies of his remarks and the personal statements from the families of the victims, which she also did not attend.

Read more: 

• Nurse Lucy Letby murdered 7 babies. She wrote a sympathy card to one of their parents.
• How a 25-year-old nurse became one of the UK's worst serial killers.

Feature image: Cheshire Constabulary.