We Need To Talk About Lucy Letby

3. The Not-So-Chilling Code In Lucy's Diaries

Lucy Letby’s diaries are found during a police search of her addresses. They purport to contain a chilling code used by Letby to denote the days on which she attacked babies. However, it turns out that the letters that the police thought were “LO” are in fact “LD” which is a common acronym used by nurses that stands for “Long Day”. Post-it notes were also found on which Letby had scribbled “I am evil” and “I killed them on purpose”. Was Letby confessing to crimes or did her notes have another explanation?

We Need To Talk About Lucy Letby is a podcast series hosted by statistician Peter Elston and retired doctor Michael McConville. Lucy Letby was a neonatal nurse at The Countess of Chester Hospital in NW England who was convicted in August 2023 of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder a further six on seven occasions, though she was found not guilty on two counts of attempted murder and verdicts could not be reached in another six. In this series, Peter and Michael discuss the many aspects of the case and the steps over more than ten years that led to Lucy ending up in HMP Bronzefield serving 14 full life terms. But could it be the worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history?