How Lucy Letby’s parents watched their only daughter every day in court and took her on holiday every year – and her mother was so distraught when the nurse was arrested she told police: ‘I did it, take me instead’

Lucy Letby’s parents, John, 77, and Susan, 63, were constantly present during her trial – attending every day of the 10-month proceedings at Manchester Crown Court.

In fact, they were so determined to hear all the evidence against their daughter that they moved to Manchester from the cathedral city of Hereford, on the border between England and Wales.

A source told the Mail that Letby’s mother was distraught when she was arrested – wailing, crying and even telling police ‘I did it, take me instead’, in a desperate attempt to protect her.

Retail boss John and Susan, a bookkeeper, raised Letby as an only child in a 1930s semi-detached house on a cul-de-sac.

As creatures of habit, they still live in the same house – which they bought shortly after they got married – and holiday in Torquay three times a year, taking Letby with them until she was arrested in July 2018.

There is nothing to indicate that Mr. and Mrs. Letby were anything but caring parents who showered their daughter with love from the moment she was born – five months after they married in July 1989.

Growing up, Letby was a “delight” to her parents, the neighbors recalled.

She had a part-time job at WH Smith in town and her parents were extremely proud when she was the first in their family to go to college.

When she graduated, they marked her graduation, in December 2011, with an announcement in their local newspaper, the Hereford Times.

Alongside a photo of her wearing a mortarboard and holding her diploma, they wrote: ‘Letby Lucy BSc Hons in Child Nursing. We are so proud of you after all your hard work. Love mom and dad.”

A similar announcement, with an accompanying photo of Letby as a young child, was also placed in the same newspaper to mark her 21st birthday.

But text messages Letby exchanged with colleagues revealed that she sometimes felt smothered by her mother and father and felt guilty about moving. She explained that they missed her and hated her living alone.

She seemed to speak or text them every day, describing them as “suffocating at times.” She told a doctor friend who was considering moving to New Zealand that she could never do that because it would “completely devastate” them.

“It’s hard enough being away from me right now and it’s only 100 miles,” she said.

In a message to another friend, she wrote: ‘My parents are extremely worried about anything and everything, they hate that I live alone etc.

“I feel bad because I know it’s really hard for them, especially being an only child, and they mean well, just feeling a little suffocating at times and constantly feeling guilty.”

Ms Letby sometimes burst into tears in the courtroom during the trial and appeared anxious during intermissions when her daughter was going through particularly difficult periods of questioning by the prosecution.

Investigators suspect that Letby had told them few details about the gruesome nature of the crimes she was accused of before it was explained to them in court.

When the guilty verdicts were returned, Mrs Letby burst into a series of anguished sobs that continued even after she left the court. At one point she exclaimed, “You can’t be serious. This can’t be right.’

Letby will likely spend the rest of her life in prison.