A quantity of friends and former colleagues of serial killer nurse Lucy Letby proceed to imagine in her innocence, regardless of the actual fact she has been jailed for all times for murdering seven infants and making an attempt to kill one other six.
During the last 10 months, a jury at Manchester Crown Court docket heard proof that Letby poisoned untimely infants with inulin and injected her victims with air.
Whereas the choose described her actions as a “merciless, calculated and cynical marketing campaign of little one homicide”, a quantity of shut associates of the 33-year-old have remained supportive.
Lucy Letby was discovered responsible after a prolonged trial, on a number of fees
(AFP/Cheshire Constabulary/Handout)
They embrace Janet Cox, a former nursing colleague and shut good friend of Letby’s who repeatedly appeared in court docket alongside her mother and father.
Pictures have emerged of Cox hugging Letby and carrying Christmas jumpers, months after she was faraway from the unit as suspicion grew {that a} collection of “unexplained and inexplicable” deaths may be linked to her presence.
When approached by the MailOnline exterior her house and requested if she nonetheless believed in her good friend’s innocence, she replied “Sure” however refused to elaborate.
One other childhood good friend instructed BBC Panorama that she remained satisfied of Letby’s innocence, and alluded to additional help from her friendship group.
Letby‘s mother and father attended all through the trial in help of their daughter however haven’t spoken since her conviction
(Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Daybreak Howe, 33, a most cancers analysis scientist, has identified Letby since they attended Aylestone secondary faculty in Hereford collectively.
“Until Lucy rotated and stated ‘I’m responsible’ I’ll by no means imagine that she’s responsible,” she instructed the BBC. “We all know she couldn’t have carried out something that she’s accused of, so undoubtedly we stand by her.
Letby’s good friend Daybreak Howe stated ‘undoubtedly we stand by her’
(BBC)
“I grew up with Lucy and never a single factor that I’ve ever seen or witnessed of Lucy would let me for a second imagine she is succesful of the issues she’s accused of.
“It is essentially the most out-of-character accusation that you could possibly ever put towards Lucy. Suppose of your most variety, light, gentle good friend and assume that they’re being accused of harming infants.”
She accused police of “making an attempt to construct a case, to search out somebody culpable to search out somebody in charge”.
Letby’s defence lawyer, Ben Myers KC, had argued that “sub-optimal” care on the hospital had been behind the deaths, whereas Letby claimed she had been the sufferer of a “conspiracy”.
Taking to the stand, she named the ‘Gang of 4’ consultants who had “apportioned the blame onto her”.
A hospital supply instructed The Sunday Instances that some nurses who labored alongside Letby on the Countess of Chester Hospital are additionally struggling to just accept the jury’s determination.
A ‘small quantity’ of employees on the Countess of Chester Hospital wrestle to imagine her guilt
(PA Wire)
“There are nonetheless a small quantity of folks on the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester who assume she is innocent,” they stated. “They’re discovering it troublesome to imagine she might have carried out it, as a result of for therefore lengthy they had been fed the narrative that Letby was being blamed by consultants who had been making excuses for their very own errors.”
Police and the court docket system had been left annoyed throughout the trial as a quantity of armchair detectives and novice sleuths posted theories concerning the case on-line, often breaking the strict reporting restrictions.
A marketing campaign to lift funds for Letby’s enchantment has additionally been launched within the US and claims that the conviction “might characterize the best miscarriage of justice the UK has ever witnessed”.
Letby was convicted of murdering seven infants and making an attempt to kill six others
(Cheshire Police)
Donations are usually not but open for ‘Science on Trial’, which states that its principal goal is “to make sure that scientific proof is used responsibly within the legal justice system”.
Since her conviction, the hashtag #LucyLetbyInnocent has amassed hundreds of thousands of views, likes and feedback on TikTok, with many evaluating the case to Amanda Knox and Dutch nurse Lucia de Berk. Each ladies had been wrongfully convicted of homicide earlier than their sentences had been overturned.
Jurors nonetheless had been left in little doubt of her guilt, and Letby was discovered responsible of 14 out of 22 fees, making her essentially the most prolific little one serial killer in UK fashionable historical past.
