Lucy Letby motive: who is killer nurse, why did she murder seven babies, infatuation with doctor explained

Lucy Letby, the nurse who killed seven babies in the period from 2015-2016, and attempted to kill six more, was sentenced to a whole life order today (21 August), meaning that she will spend the rest of her life behind bars.

The killer did not attend her sentencing hearing, in a move interpreted as a further act of disregard for the pain caused to her victims and their families, though criminals cannot be compelled to attend such hearings.

Members of the jury wept as their verdict was read out earlier this month, following a trial in which the full scope of her sick crimes was laid bare. 

The killing defied all beliefs about how a nurse entrusted with the welfare of babies would act, and it has been difficult for many to comprehend how Letby could carry out such hideous crimes.

Several theories have been put forward to explain her actions, though Letby has denied them all.

Who is Lucy Letby?

Lucy Letby, 33, is a nurse (she has yet to be struck off the nursing register) from Hertfordshire who became notorious for carrying out the murders of seven babies in her care at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester.

She began working at the hospital in 2012 having graduated from the University of Chester in 2011.

When doctors became suspicious about the high rate of baby deaths in her care, she was moved from the night to day shifts, and later to an administrative role, prompting her to complain of discrimination.

Is Lucy Letby mentally ill?

Professor Mike Berry, of Liverpool’s John Moores University, compared Letby to baby killer Beverly Allitt, who was given a life sentence in 1991.

He said that both killers may have had the illness Munchausen by proxy - in such cases a person harms someone in their care in order to gain attention and sympathy of those around them.

However, Berry added that there was no obvious evidence that Letby had a mental illness. 

Letby was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, but this was following her arrest, several years after she had committed her crimes. In her trial no mitigating circumstances were accepted for her actions and she was sentenced to a whole life order.

She was first arrested in 2018 and re-arrested in 2019 and 2020, before her trial began in late 2022. This month she was found guilty of seven murders and six attempted murders and given a whole life order, becoming the fourth woman in British criminal history to receive such a sentence. 

What was Lucy Letby’s motive?

A definitive motive for Letby’s disturbing crimes was not arrived at during her trial, but prosecutors alleged that she carried out the multiple murders to gain the sympathy of a colleague, a male doctor she had reportedly become infatuated with.

The doctor in question has not been named for legal reasons, but it was during his appearance at her trial that Letby showed a rare moment of emotion.

The man, who is married, gave evidence from behind a screen to protect his identity, and when he spoke Letby broke down in tears and left her seat to walk towards the exit of the dock.

Professor Berry also suggested that Letby may have committed the murders to ‘attract the attention of a particular person’ or to play God, having control over life and death.

Speaking in the witness box, Letby denied that she was infatuated with the doctor, but said that she loved him as a trusted friend.

Another motive suggested for the killings was that she enjoyed the grief she had created.

Prosecutor Mr Johnson KC said that she got a ‘thrill’ from the grief and despair of the families of the babies she had killed, and of other staff at the hospital, though Letby denied this too.