Lucy Letby : Serial Killer : Why Did She Kill? Part 2
3 thoughts on “Lucy Letby : Serial Killer : Why Did She Kill? Part 2”
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The Lucy Letby case is very interesting, and intriguing too.
Of course, I am shocked and extremely sorry for the tiny, vulnerable babies who were monstrously betrayed by someone entrusted to care for them. I am also deeply sympathetic for the parents and families who lost their babies or are suffering because their babies were injured. It is absolutely heartbreaking for the parents and families of the babies. The deprivation of joy and hope must be almost insurmountable. A deep hurt that will probably always be there, an inconsolable grief and irreplaceable loss.
What I find thought-provoking in particular in the Lucy Letby case, for some reason even I can’t quite fully understand, is that the case is strongly juxtaposed in my mind with the David Carrick case.
I say this because of the similarities between the two, which, to my mind, are:
– they both occurred in recent times;
– they both occurred in the UK;
– they both involve the ‘perpetrators’ being entrusted in positions of authority within public service fields. Fields that exist specifically to protect or care for the public;
– they both involve the perpetrators being enabled by others also in positions of authority;
– they have both shocked and dismayed the public.
As an outsider who is not British or living in the UK, I can see the above similarities as an observer and as someone who is not affected in a personal way. For this reason, I consider that I am detached and also more ‘objective’ about the two cases, that is, if objectivity could be measured on a spectrum.
Something that also intrigues me is the public attitudes, commentary, and judicial arguments about each one – at least from what I read in the media and comments on social media.
Babies are extremely vulnerable – there is no argument there, in the slightest. In the Lucy Letby case, babies lost their lives – a tragedy that is finite, all hope lost for the lives of the newborns who tragically died. The babies were horribly betrayed, tortured clinically in ways they could not fathom or resist. The power imbalance vast. Very little is required to overpower a newborn.
The women who were tortured by David Carrick were also vulnerable and betrayed by a system that enabled the perpetrator. The ‘system’ enabled the perpetrator for years. Women were tortured and remained alive to be tortured again by a policeman who was protected by other policemen. Vulnerable women easily overpowered and heinously betrayed by someone entrusted in a position of authority to care.
I know there are also differences between the two cases. I can see that too.
As I said, the two cases are juxtaposed in my mind and I am intrigued by each one. I am intrigued by the histories of the perpetrators; the motives of the perpetrators; the environment that ‘enabled’ the crimes; the belief in those in authority and the abhorrent betrayal of that belief; the public outrage in relation to each one and the ‘flavour’ of the public outrage; the judgements handed down in each case; the media reports; and also the difference in attitudes towards the victims.
I am considering these aspects as an observer looking at each case from a distance. I am not commenting in order to judge or provoke. I am considering the cases, as I said, because they are juxtaposed in my mind. I am thinking of them in a detached way. I am also very saddened by each one.
Thank you, HG, for your interesting and thought-provoking analysis.
An only child. I couldn’t recommend this one and I am talking from experience. It has dire consequences for some. I ended up a recluse because of it and a carer to my mother with no social support because all the rest of the family are Narcissists. I have no contact with any of them now. We are completely and utterly estranged.
I would describe myself as being more seriously messed up than Letby; so damaged am I from their abuse. I am even trying my hand at fiction now; perfect occupation for recluses!
One more fascinating analysis, thank you for doing this series on Lucy Letby, HG.
Though they are extremely rare, I have heard that some serial killers didn’t have a horrible childhood, which I find particularly interesting. Very much looking forward to finding out more about this one like, say, abuse in the Church she belonged to? Or discovering she couldn’t have children of her own and this made her snap? Not something I could relate to personally, but I have heard that it can be disastrous for some women.