The unusual lives of Lucy Letby’s mother and father — and the way mum tried to take the blame

Lucy Letby has been given an entire life sentence and can spend the remainder of her days behind bars.

The neonatal nurse killed seven infants whereas working on the Countess of Chester Hospital, concentrating on 17 infants between June 2015 and June 2016, a jury discovered.

Letby refused to seem in court docket throughout her sentencing. And whereas her mother and father did not present up both, Jonathan and Susan Letby have been there for each single different day of the trial.

The pair are mentioned to have doted on their daughter, their solely baby, usually holidaying collectively and infrequently staying at one another’s homes — a household that has now been torn aside.

But who precisely are the mother and father? Express.co.uk takes a glance into their lives and the connection they’d with their daughter. 

Letby was born in Hereford on January 4, 1990, to furnishings boss John Letby, then 44, and accounts clerk Susan Letby, then 29.

They have been a close-knit household from the beginning, and Mr Letby, now 77, and Mrs Letby, 63, “hated it” when Letby didn’t return dwelling after graduating from college — one thing that she mentioned made her really feel “constantly guilty”.

While little is understood about Mr and Mrs Letby individually, details about their life with Letby has been weaned from correspondence with pals. 

Messaging a pal who had talked about emigrating to New Zealand, Letby mentioned: “I couldn’t leave my parents. They would be completely devastated. Find it hard enough being away from me now and it’s only 100 miles.

“I came here to uni and didn’t go back. They hate it and I feel guilty for staying here sometimes but it’s what I want.”

“My mother and father fear massively about every thing and something, hate that I reside alone and so forth,” she told another friend.

“I really feel dangerous as a result of I do know it’s actually arduous for them particularly as I’m an solely baby, they usually imply effectively, just a bit suffocating at occasions and continuously really feel responsible.”

Mr and Mrs Letby were so determined to hear all the evidence against their daughter that they relocated to Manchester from Hereford for the duration of the trial. 

When the guilty verdicts rolled in last week, Mrs Letby reportedly broke down in tears, and cried: “You cannot be severe. This can’t be proper.”

According to the Daily Mail, Mrs Letby grew to become distraught when her daughter was first arrested in 2018.

She is alleged to have begun wailing and crying, and even tried to pin the blame on herself, telling police: “I did it, take me as a substitute.”

One neighbour of the family told The Times they were distraught in the aftermath of the arrest. “She’s an solely baby,” they said. “Do I’ve to say anymore? I simply really feel for them a lot. I really feel so helpless that there’s nothing we are able to do.”

Neighbours remembered that Letby was a “delight” to her parents growing up, and was always showered in love and praise.

She had a part-time job at WHSmith as a teenager, and her parents were overjoyed when she became the first in their family to go to university.

Before moving to Manchester, Mr and Mrs Letby had lived in the same house they raised their daughter in since the Nineties, a 1930s-era semi-detached home in a cul-de-sac.

When she graduated in December 2011 the pair contacted their local paper, the Hereford Times, to mark the occasion with an announcement.

“Letby Lucy BSc Hons in Child Nursing,” they wrote alongside a picture of her wearing a mortarboard and holding her degree certificate.

“We are so pleased with you after all of your arduous work. Love Mum and Dad.”