The Investigation of Lucy Letby

 

See here for essential background: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2024/07/is-lucy-letby-innocent.html.
The new Netflix documentary about Lucy Letby has been advertised heavily and many people have been anticipating it. I've already announced my intention to present a special episode of The Gas Spanner in which I'll have a live analysis with the listeners about it. The one hour thirty-four minute documentary includes some exclusive new material. There are police bodycam and interview recordings of Lucy and you hear her own words, something that has never been published before in the various news reports. In some of these interviews the participants are all wearing covid masks which demonstrates how long this process has lasted. There are scenes of all three of her arrests. Her parents live near the Countess of Chester Hospital and so she stayed in a room with them, as many adults do these days. In one case she sits on her settee and weeps as the police read her her rights. She also insists of cuddling her cat before being handcuffed. You can hear her mother crying too and Lucy tells her not to look as the policemen put her in their car. I'm a father of a woman of similar age to Lucy and so these are heartrending images... if she's innocent of course. If not then it might be just a sham to disarm her accusers by raising their sympathy. There are interviews with various people involved in the story, such as the consultant paediatrician Dr John Gibbs who first raised the alarm; and also Dr Dewi Jones, the forensic expert who advised the police and judiciary. Also featured is Mark McDonald, the barrister helping arrange an appeal for Lucy. The various police officers who ran the investigation also appear as talking heads. What is unique about this new programme is that it is the first example I've seen in which some of those interviewed are replaced with AI placeholder avatars; this is to protect their anonymity. The avatars are actually not as good as they could be with the best modern animation; as if the producers want the viewers to know that they are not real. This gives the film a strange atmosphere. These visuals are, I suppose, an alternative to "blacking out" people with silhouettes. Many others are given false names. Another sad scene is when baby Zoë's mother describes her experience. The human cost of these tragedies is always stressed throughout. One of the most interesting interviews is with Maisie, a close friend of Letby who trained with her and served with her for a while at Countess. She describes a unit with a bad atmosphere because some of the other nurses were very hostile to her and Lucy. I can well believe it! Lucy was described as very shy and timid, and therefore vulnerable. I have deep understanding of this problem. Maisie was afraid for Lucy's welfare when she was given a job on the neonatal ICU. There is a long description of the trial itself from the point of view of Zoë's mother who was sitting just a few feet away in front of Lucy in Manchester Crown Court, and how Lucy kept looking at her. Lucy's reaction to some of the questions she was asked in the police interview room appears suspicious.
 
The possibility that Lucy Letby might not be guilty is not raised until the programme is an hour in; the documentary is very compartmentalized in this way, almost as if it is a trial in itself. There is a montage of social media spots declaring how evil Lucy is and how she's the worst child killer in British legal history, outdoing even the Moors Murderers. Along with the previously addressed anomalies, Mark McDonald makes the point that has been overlooked in most current affairs outlets about this case; there is no motive. Nobody knows why Lucy did this, if she did. Since she was made a tabloid boogie-woman it's difficult to persuade the public to question the verdict. Letby's parents specifically asked McDonald to help their daughter and he agreed. It's quite chilling to hear Lucy, for the first time, describe in her own words the real reason for the post-it notes. I myself maintain this cannot be called a confession, see background links. She was venting in written form her feelings at being redeployed, that her competence was in question. She was concerned that she was being made a scapegoat by the consultants. The hospital's occupational health department even told her to do this. Lucy's best friend Maisie has stood by her all along, never believing the guilty verdict. Why did the defence not call expert witnesses? Why were the statistics not questioned? The entire case against Lucy was circumstantial and it did not take into account certain factors that could make the issue more complicated. It was just a one-dimensional case of her being on duty at the wrong time and looking after the wrong patients. David Davis MP, one of the few members of Parliament I'd trust to read me today's date, raised this issue in the House of Commons. The prosecution team have been accused of bias. There is an interview with Prof. Shoo Lee, a paediatrician from Canada who wrote the paper in 1989 that Dr Dewi Evans used as his basis for his claims that Lucy had given the babies an embolism. Prof. Lee is another leader in the movement to exonerate Lucy Letby. Zoë's mother and Dr Gibbs vehemently oppose any reinvestigation into Lucy's conviction and are convinced the authorities have got the right culprit; and of course Dr Evans opposes it too because he has been impugned. One of the social media pundits says something interesting, that Lucy does not have the usual warning signs in her childhood behaviour, such as cruelty to animals, which often precedes adult life as a serial killer. Dr Gibbs has received death threats. Maybe there will be an appeal hearing or retrial at some point. Maybe Lucy Letby was just very unlucky. Despite the exclusive new footage, this documentary does not present any significant new evidence. It is simply a good summary of the case so far, and it uses groundbreaking new televisual techniques. The Investigation of Lucy Letby can be seen on Netflix now; here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x93eZD1F4vs.
See here for more background: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2025/02/new-lucy-letby-panel.html.
And: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2025/07/lucy-letby-more-arrests.html.

Morrissey was a HP

 

Another name I can add to my hospital porters' hall of fame is the singer-songwriter Steven Patrick Morrissey, usually just known by his surname. Morrissey grew up in Manchester in an Irish family and had a musical talent that served him well. His first band was formed in 1976. It was firmly in the punk scene and had the unforgettable name of "The Nosebleeds", but his true break came when he formed The Smiths in 1982 with Johnny Marr and Mike Joyce. Morrissey is a rather shy and private man and a lot of his personal life and past is still mysterious. His songs are often very poignant and melancholy with titles like "Girlfriend in a Coma" and "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now". "Suffer Little Children" is about the Moors murders which took place in the mid-60's during his own childhood. Morrissey lived close to the killers and their victims. He's also known to be very opinionated. He, along with Eric Clapton, bravely refused to play at a gig in 2021 when he found out the organizers were forcing attendees to show proof of having a Covid vaccine. Morrissey has little time for political correctness and is openly patriotic. This has inevitably led to accusations of racism. He supports animal rights and is a vegetarian. Most interestingly of all, and relevant to the HPWA, is that he was a HP. This is according to his biographer David Bret. Between 1977 and 1981 he did a number of jobs including a brief stint in the civil service and at a records store; and hospital portering. I have not read the two books Bret wrote about the singer so I don't know which hospital in Manchester Morrissey served at, but I expect it was one of the main generals such as the Royal Infirmary or North Manchester General. He describes the job as "grisly" and relates a time when he had to clean up human remains, something I can sympathize with. He also describes the doctors' uniforms and how much they were covered in blood. He took a keen interest in the culture of working class life in Manchester and his HPing service exemplified that. He lived for his whole youth in that world and many of his lyrics express his sentiments. I remember The Smiths very well in my childhood and Morrissey's unique vocals. I salute MEP&DBP Morrissey, who joins his fellow music icon Simon Le Bon in that crossover between pop stardom and HPing, see: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2023/04/simon-le-bon-was-hp.html.

See also: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2018/07/colin-wilson-was-hospital-porter.html.

And: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2021/12/mick-jaggers-service-confirmed.html.

Cylindrical Nostalgia

 

I have received the above photo from a brother HP who thought I'd like it, and he was totally correct. It shows a porter's hand opening the valve on a gas cylinder. The cylinder is F-size, about four feet long and weighing thirty pounds or so; and it contains pure oxygen. My guess is that it on a static installation for use in a ward, clinic or other department. Some large hospitals have a mains supply of some medical gases. They are piped all over the site from a large storage facility in the industrial block; the JRH was one of them. Smaller hospitals usually have their own departmental static supply and the cylinders have therefore to be changed regularly by we, the porters. Changing the cylinders is not difficult and we can learn it in a few minutes; but, like all portering skills, it takes longer to perfect. The regulator has a washer on it called a bodox seal and you have to be careful it doesn't stick to the cylinder valve. Once there it will be taken away with the empty cylinder. Many have been lost that way and a regulator without a bodox will just leak so much it is useless. As it is, very few seals are perfect, so don't worry if it makes a very slight hissing sound. If you fiddle with it a bit the hiss usually goes away. If it doesn't and the device is not in use, shut the valve. When you open the valve you should hear the gas flow into the regulator and even feel it vibrate. It's a very satisfying ASMR feeling actually. We used to crack the valve briefly before attaching it to blow out the dust and excess lubrication oil, but this was not common practice. The regulator has on it a pressure gauge that tells you how much gas is in the cylinder. Some of them also have a flowmeter, but not all, especially on portables and vehicle supply because they get broken easily. I knew an old senior who boasted he could read the pressure in a cylinder just by its weight. It's true that compressed gas does weigh something, but I didn't believe him; or at least I tried it and it didn't work. What's interesting about this photo is the porter is using a very old type of gas spanner, a big cast iron one that also has a built in lever for twisting very stiff attachment bolts. It has two heads, for F and G-size valves. They're a bit too heavy to carry around and so I only went and picked one up from the lodge as and when required. Thanks very much to my HPing online contact for this little taste of cylindrical nostalgia.

Hospice Exorcist

 

This article is adapted from one posted on HPANWO Voice.
Hospitals are some of the most likely places to be haunted. Parapsychologists often say this is because the huge amount of fear, pain and death within their walls generates a psychic energetic atmosphere more conducive to ghosts. I've covered this possibility many times over the years, inspired by my own twenty-three years of service as a hospital porter, see the links below. Over the years there have been many news stories that have proved my point, but this latest one really takes the biscuit. Staff at a hospice in Norwich have been so troubled by ghostly phenomena that they have arranged to have the building exorcised. A hospice is a hospital that provides palliative care, treatment for those who are terminally ill; painkillers, other procedures to ease symptoms and generate a calm and caring environment. This does not include euthanasia in my country. The Priscilla Bacon Lodge is part of the Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust and so is a serious mainstream public institution. Exorcism is the spiritual practice of healing a person or place said to be possessed by a malevolent supernatural entity. It was popularized by the famous 1973 horror movie The Exorcist. Management at the hospice say there are concerns about "paranormal incidents" especially regular sighting of a young girl in a red dress who seems to be a phantom. According to leaked emails, Priscilla Bacon Lodge has been writing to the local bishop asking for advice and help from a "deliverance" team. The hospice's chaplain will join them in carrying out a blessing of the building to expel whatever darkness lurks within. Source: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/nhs-exorcist-hospice-ghosts-b1268691.html. This will certainly not be as dramatic as the film. Hopefully no spinning heads or projectile vomiting. I hope it works. The cause of all this paranormal activity could be nothing to do with the building itself, but its location. It was erected on the site of a children's hospital which was demolished and its facilities moved to a new campus. No wonder the ghost seen there is of a child. What really surprises me, knowing how the NHS works from the inside, is how the management are acting openly and straightforwardly on this very unusual matter. I'm truly surprised they would risk it. I can't imagine any of the office wallahs who paths I crossed thinking in those terms. They would just put their hands over their ears and sack the person who brought the matter to their attention. Sadly, as regular readers will know, in today's healthcare world a service provider can be discharged for so much as breathing at the wrong volume; and the higher up the hierarchy you are, of course, the easier it is to get rid of you. I definitely never reported any ghosts to my bosses, and would probably not have done even if I'd seen any. The fact that the admin at the Priscilla Bacon Lodge are risking that fate means that something serious and immediate must be going on. The paranormal unrest must be considerable. When the media asked further questions about what staff and patients had witnessed the trust declined to comment. Finally, if HPWA readers are at all interested in palliative medicine and its spooky elements then I definitely recommend "Hospice Nurse Julie" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hospicenursejulie.
See here for more information: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2025/01/ghost-of-hp.html.
And: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2021/12/hospital-pm-scares.html.