Lucy Letby’s former boss has spoken out for the first time to reveal why she believes the killer nurse is innocent.
The neonatal nurse and Britain’s worst serial child killer is serving 15 whole life orders after she was convicted of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others at Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester.
Earlier this month a ‘blue riband committee’ of 14 neonatalogists dropped a bombshell report in which they claimed they ‘did not find any murders’ amid questions over evidence used to convict the 35-year-old.
Now Letby’s former manager Karen Rees, 62, has added her voice in support and says she has contacted HMP Bronzefield in Surrey where the nurse is serving her sentence to apply to visit her.
Letby has rejected that request but Ms Rees says she will stand by her telling The Times: ‘What I saw was a very frightened young woman who was shocked and bewildered.’
The retired head of nursing was tasked with meeting with Letby on a nearly weekly basis for two years when in 2016 she was taken off frontline nursing over concerns about her ‘clinical practice’.
She struck up a close bond with Letby during those ‘wellbeing’ meetings, later admitting to a public inquiry that she got ‘too close’.
Ms Rees described the appointments as ‘shocking’ in which Letby would be ‘crying’ and ‘very distressed every time we met’.
Lucy Letby’s former boss Karen Rees has spoken out for the first time to reveal why she believes the killer nurse is innocent
Lucy Letby is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court
‘I know that they say psychopaths are clever,’ she said. ‘But if she was acting she deserves an Oscar because she was so convincing.’
The senior nurse and colleagues even set up a WhatsApp group to support Letby out of fear she was suicidal and took her out for tea.
In one text, sent in May 2017, almost a year after Letby had been removed from the unit, Ms Rees wrote: ‘Hang in there, girl…your nursing team are fully behind you. We will get through this, lol (lots of love) K.’
In another, sent on New Year’s Day in 2018, she wished Letby a Happy New Year, adding: ‘Let’s hope you get closure this year, I’m really proud of you and the professional way you have presented yourself throughout.’
Ms Rees continued to contact Letby even after she was arrested by the police, writing in December 2018: ‘Just to let you know we are constantly thinking of you, hope you have a pleasant Christmas with your family during this continued stressful time.’
Ms Rees told a public inquiry in October that Letby was ‘absolutely devastated’ when she was moved into a clerical role and ‘kept crying,’ which was ‘dreadful’ to watch.
‘I was witness to her and she was absolutely devastated,’ Ms Rees said. ‘She kept crying, asking, “Why are they doing this to me, I’ve done nothing wrong, I’m not going to let them run me out of a job I love”.
‘I suppose months of that, her being distressed…I remember looking at her and thinking, “this is dreadful”.’
A police-issued photo of the front of a diary, along with a Post-it note found inside the diary, recovered from a chest of drawers at the home of Letby in Chester, which included the lines: ‘I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough’ and ‘I am evil. I did this’
The corridor within the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit, in a photograph issued by police after it was shown at Manchester Crown Court during the trial of Lucy Letby
A handwritten note which was shown in court at Letby’s trial after being found at her home
Letby’s barrister Mark McDonald speaks ahead of a press conference in London
Bodyworn camera footage issued by Cheshire Constabulary of Lucy Letby’s arrest in 2018
A photo taken in July 2018 of Lucy Letby’s bedroom in Chester, which was shown in court
Speaking to The Times, Ms Rees recalled the moment in 2017 when Letby pleaded in a four-page statement to return to the ward in which she said: ‘I am not the cold calculating murderer that some of you in this room believe me to be.’
Ms Rees said she believed Letby when she told her she had done nothing wrong especially as her ward manager gave the nurse a glowing reference that she was ‘fantastic and right by the book’.
‘I will always recall her saying to me, “you’re the only person, Karen, that hasn’t asked me if I did it?” Because I didn’t think she had,’ Ms Rees said.
Letby’s trial at Manchester Crown Court had heard the babies were attacked between 2015 and 2016 while she worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit.
One method was injecting air into the bloodstream which was said to have caused an air embolism that blocked blood supply and led to sudden and unexpected collapses.
The court heard evidence from experts that Letby used various other ways to harm babies, including injecting air into the stomach, overfeeding with milk, physical assaults and poisoning with insulin.
And she wrote a note saying: ‘I don’t deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them.’
Dr Shoo Lee, a retired top neonatal medical expert, co-authored a 1989 academic text on air embolism in babies – which featured prominently in Letby’s ten-month trial.
The defendant worked as a nurse on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital
Retired medic Dr Shoo Lee during a press conference at 1 Great George Street in London to announce ‘new medical evidence’ regarding the convictions of Lucy Letby
Police investigate at Lucy Letby’s home in Chester in June 2019, with a tent erected outside
A handwritten note which was shown in court at Letby’s trial after being found at her home
He chaired a panel of experts who compiled an ‘impartial evidence-based report’ and said their thoughts were with the families of the babies who died – but also claimed the prosecution misinterpreted his findings on skin discolouration.
Dr Lee told the packed press conference: ‘Death or injury of all the affected infants were due either to natural causes or to errors in medical care. There were serious problems related to medical care of patients at this hospital.
‘There were problems related to teamwork and interdisciplinary collaboration at the Countess of Chester Neonatal Unit. In summary, ladies and gentlemen, we did not find any murders. In all cases, death or injury were due to natural causes or just bad medical care. Lucy was charged with seven murders and seven attempted murders.
‘In our opinion, the medical opinion, the medical evidence doesn’t support murder in any of these babies, just natural causes and bad medical care. Our full report will go to Lucy’s barrister later this month and then it will be up to him and the courts to decide what next to do.’
Letby’s lawyer Mark McDonald said today’s revelations ‘demolished’ the case against her, adding: ‘Lucy Letby was convicted because of medical evidence presented to the jury. That, today, has been demolished.’
He added that her conviction was ‘unsafe’ and should be referred back to the Court of Appeal, saying: ‘She has hope, that’s all I can say.’
Mr McDonald said the legal team would be back in the Court of Appeal ‘very soon.’ He added: ‘There is overwhelming evidence that the conviction is unsafe. And if Dr Shoo Lee and the panel are correct, no crime was committed.’
Letby’s case is set to be reviewed by a commission that investigates potential miscarriages of justice.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has received an application from her lawyers and said that work has already begun to assess the case, which involves ‘a significant volume of complicated evidence’.