police chief has described the moment he arrested a “cold and emotionless” Lucy Letby saying the killer nurse “accepted” that officers would arrive at her door.
Letby, 33, was convicted on Friday of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six more during her shifts on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.
Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes described the arrest to The Mail on Sunday: “She was emotionless, she cooperated, she answered the questions.
“It was surprising – this was someone who had never been involved with police before in her life.
“She’s arrested for eight murders and six attempted murders and brought into custody. At no point did she appear to be struggling with anything. She was quiet, she wasn’t obstructive, she dealt with everything, she was controlled.”
Nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital (Cheshire Constabulary/PA)
/ PA MediaHe also claimed that there seemed to be an “acceptance” on Lucy’s behalf that cops would be arriving at her door one day.
“There was no banging on the table, at no point did she say: ‘You’re saying these babies have been killed. I cared for these babies, go and find the killer, it’s not me’.
“There was very much an acceptance that we were going to come and knock on her door at some point.”
Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes believes Lucy was expecting cops to show up
/ PAThe interview came as a source told the Daily Mail that Lucy’s mother had bizarrely cried out “I did it, take me instead,” as officers led her away in cuffs.
Letby, who worked as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital, was even described as “beige” after video footage of her police interviews was played in court.
The serial killer is due to be sentenced on Monday, but has indicated she does not want to take any part in the hearing.
Meanwhile, police have been urged to probe hospital bosses for potential corporate manslaughter.
The prosecution’s lead medical expert, retired consultant paediatrician Dewi Evans, says he will write to Cheshire Constabulary to ask it to investigate “grossly negligent” bosses for not acting on fears about Letby while she was on a killing spree, the Observer reported.
Bosses also blamed other NHS services for a number of the unexplained deaths – and in a review in May 2016 said there was “no evidence whatsoever against (Letby) other than coincidence”, the newspaper reported.
Consultants who raised concerns about Letby as far back as 2015 have said babies could have been saved if hospital management had listened and acted sooner.
