This is the harrowing moment Lucy Letby's mother collapses in tears as police officers arrive at dawn to arrest her daughter at the family home. Extraordinary bodycam footage featured in a new Netflix documentary reveals Susan Letby, 65, crying and pleading with officers: 'Please, no, not again, no,' as Cheshire Constabulary arrive to take the former neonatal nurse away.
Dawn Arrest at Childhood Home
The footage shows officers approaching the semi-detached property in Hereford where Susan and John Letby, 80, have lived for more than forty years. Police enter the home and wake their only child, who had been sleeping in her childhood bedroom decorated with fairy lights, snow globe ornaments and affirmation trinkets.
Letby, 36, appears stunned as a detective informs her she is being arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder for a second time. The video captures the convicted child killer being led downstairs, where she asks to say goodbye to one of her beloved cats, kissing the pet before turning to her parents with the question: 'You know I didn't do it?'
Her parents respond: 'We know that.' A tearful Letby then tells her sobbing mother 'it's alright,' before adding: 'Just go in mum, don't look mum, just go, just go in,' as she is led in handcuffs to a waiting police car for the 130-mile journey back to Cheshire for questioning.
Parents Condemn Documentary
On Sunday, Letby's parents criticised the documentary as a 'complete invasion of privacy' and stated they will not watch the film because 'it would likely kill us if we did.' The 90-minute programme, entitled The Investigation of Lucy Letby, features extensive footage of all three of Letby's arrests, including bodycam video from her first detention at her home in Blacon, Chester, in July 2018.
Letby's Contact with Police
The documentary reveals that Letby contacted the senior investigating officer herself in April 2018 - three months before her first arrest - to ask when she would be interviewed about the spike in baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes tells the programme that Letby emailed him directly from her NHS email account, quoting the name of the investigation – Operation Hummingbird – which was not generally in the public domain.
'She wanted to know when we were going to speak to her,' he explains. 'I found it interesting, I thought maybe she has got something to tell us.' In her email, Letby asked about 'time frames' and appeared to anticipate needing to 'manage' time off work to speak to officers, writing that it would be 'beneficial for me to be able to share these potential timeframes with my manager.'
Victim's Mother Speaks Out
The documentary charts the story of 'Zoe', a full-term baby girl whose name has been changed for legal reasons. She was the third child to be murdered in a fortnight in June 2015. Speaking for the first time, Zoe's mother describes the 'panic, disbelief and confusion' she and her husband felt after their daughter died unexpectedly soon after birth.
The mother, whose identity has been digitally disguised, also criticises what she calls 'disgusting' attempts by campaigners, including Tory MP David Davis, to try to free Letby. She reveals she wasn't warned that her daughter's case would be discussed at a press conference held by Letby's legal team last year, during which they claimed her victims died of natural causes or poor care.
'This is not a show, there is no star, this is nothing to smile about,' the mother states. 'The audacity from a politician to introduce someone like this, it is disgusting.'
Police Interviews and Evidence
The programme features clips from Letby's police interviews, showing her calmly answering questions about medical processes but then claiming not to remember details about her whereabouts when individual babies collapsed. Despite being presented with six pages of Zoe's medical notes showing she had repeatedly signed for medication, and text messages discussing how she saw 'parents screaming' following the tot's death, Letby claimed she couldn't remember anything about her.
She also had no explanation for why she searched for Zoe's parents on Facebook three days after her death, or for why none of the 887 babies admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit following her re-deployment had since died or deteriorated unexpectedly.
Continuing Legal Battles
Letby, who is serving a record 15 whole life terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more, has twice tried and failed to appeal her convictions. In April last year, her legal team lodged a file of new 'expert' evidence with the Criminal Cases Review Commission in the hope her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal a third time.
The documentary includes an interview with a nurse who studied at university with Letby, known only as Maisie, who believes her friend is 'completely innocent.' Maisie breaks down in the programme as she reads a letter Letby sent from jail, in which Letby complains about being a 'terrible mummy' to her cats and adds: 'I'm determined to get through this, I will not give up.'
Inquests into the deaths of five of Letby's victims are scheduled to be opened today, adding another chapter to this ongoing legal saga that has shocked the nation and raised profound questions about healthcare safeguarding and criminal justice processes.
