Never-before-seen letters from Lucy Letby to best friend show her boasting about prison cell
Lucy Letby told a close friend she was “determined to get through this” as she revealed details of her life behind bars ahead of her trial for murdering seven babies in her care.
The serial killer nurse sent a handwritten letter from Category A HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, saying she missed her two cats and was able to leave her prison cell to go for a walk every day.
Letter featured in new feature documentary The Investigation of Lucy Letby It was released on Netflix, featuring interviews with Letby’s friend and fellow nurse Maisie, who met the convicted killer when they were both students at the University of Chester.
“Maisie, there are no words to describe my situation, but it is very important and special for me to know that I have your friendship no matter what,” he says. “I have my own room and toilet. I can shower and go for a walk every day. Even if the weather is a little cold, it is very important to go out,” says Letby.
“I miss Tigger and Smudge so much it’s so sad they can’t understand why I’m not there anymore. They must think I’m a terrible mother! Mum and Dad take good care of them though and no doubt spoil them. I’m trying my best to stay strong and positive. I’m determined to get through this. I won’t give up.”
Letby, 36, from Hereford, was removed from clinical duties in July 2016 after consultant paediatricians raised concerns that he might deliberately harm babies.
He is serving 15 life sentences at HMP Bronzefield after being found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven babies between June 2015 and June 2016, making two attempts on one of his victims.
Maisie, whose image has been digitally altered to protect her identity, said: “Up until the hearing and verdict I would write to Lucy and she would reply. “I always tried to be really positive and now I don’t know what to say.
“There is always doubt because no matter how well you know someone, you will never [know] all of one. But I can’t believe it unless I see real evidence. “I know people think I’m supporting a baby killer, but he’s my friend and right now he’s in prison forever.”
One of the leading voices opposing her case, barrister Mark McDonald, who took up her case following her guilty conviction, said he was “deeply concerned” given there was no CCTV and no one at the Countess of Chester Hospital saw her deliberately harming babies by injecting air or insulin.
Stating that he was encouraged to write down his thoughts during therapy, from handwritten notes in which he described himself as “bad” and wrote “I did this,” he said in the documentary: “This was definitely not a confession note.”
Footage released from her interview with police shows Letby being asked about the notes, to which she replied: “I wrote it because it was all over my head. I felt like they were blaming my practice… I may have unknowingly harmed them through my practice. And that made me feel guilty. I was blaming myself.”
The documentary also features the mother of a murdered baby, referred to as ‘Baby D’ in the trial and ‘Zoe’ in the Netflix production.
Using the pseudonym ‘Sarah’, he said he “knew Lucy Letby was going to take the stand, so I had to confront her.”
“I sat ten feet away from him. He looked at me a dozen times, staring. Every time he looked at me, I had to look down too,” Sarah told the documentary.
She added that at one point she felt she had “failed as a mother” for failing to protect her daughter, who died in June 205 after it was revealed that Letby had injected air into her bloodstream.
Meanwhile, health minister Wes Streeting said Letby’s fate should be decided by the courts, not campaigners, saying: “In my view, Lucy Letby is a convicted criminal and has been convicted of some of the most serious crimes imaginable.
“And unless that changes and the decision is successfully challenged with evidence and not through campaigning, I will continue to support the courts’ decision.”
A group of campaigners support Letby and have lodged reports with legal review body the Criminal Cases Review Commission to overturn his convictions.
Letby has twice been refused permission to appeal his conviction in 2024.
