Lucy Letby: scapegoat for failing NHS

19 August 2023

The Spartacist League is known for its defense of freedom against reaction and struggle against the whole of evil if necessary. Although I am but a humble sympathizer and will speak anonymously, I ask that you consider my words.

Yesterday I was looking at BBC News when I suddenly found an article that said that a nurse by the name of Lucy Letby has been found guilty of intentionally killing many babies and that she is expected to spend life in prison. I previously knew next to nothing about her.

Immediately, I suffered for these poor babies and felt sickened and also rage against her (regarding the rage part, I should not have rushed to judgment). But the more I read the article, the more something felt like it was wrong. All the arguments given against Letby seemed to have some flaw, and the case seemed to rest on weak evidence.

For the following hours, I continued my research and consulted a broad range of sources. Although I am not sure of Letby’s innocence, it seems that a fair trial may not have been practiced (I am not sure of whether it was or not — I tend to only say I am sure of things if I have 100% certainty). I again and again found that the evidence against her seemed weak on many points and that there were all kinds of attempts in the reactionary media to appeal to hateful arguments against her. The whole case seemed to reek of anti-woman and anti-working class biases. The motives for which she supposedly carried out these killings do not add up.

The prosecution was trying to make her nervous in the trial, saying things like: “So why did you kill them?”, “Are you sad you didn’t succeed killing them all?” The bourgeois media posted photos of her personal life, with captions like: “She smiled as she was killing”. The media in some instances said that she’s evil because in some cases she didn’t call the parents to psychologically assist them, while in other instances they’re saying she’s evil because she did call....

I did not finish researching, but so far I found no strong evidence against her. A note was found in her apartment where she supposedly wrote something like: “I am evil I killed them”. But it seems that rather than a confession, this was a personal paper where Letby dumped her anxieties and accusations she was receiving to vent her emotional frustrations. That was consistent with the other things written in the paper. In other personal papers which were instead associated with her more serious writing, things were written like: “I didn’t kill them”, “I know I did nothing wrong”, etc.

Meanwhile, it seems that the hospital where she worked was notorious for its poor safety practices which may have led to many dead babies. Perhaps the government engineered a witch-hunt against Letby in order to deactivate the population’s frustrations over the massive spike in deaths linked to poor healthcare recently?

Later, I found a paper written by a seemingly independent scientist, where many arguments and evidence (which I did not finish reviewing nor have the medical expertise to fully understand, but seemed strong) were given for Letby’s innocence. The scientist had previously worked on the freeing of a notorious case of another nurse who was imprisoned for similar things, but then freed after the trial was revealed to be flawed. Apparently, the court did not allow this paper to be shown, it banned much evidence speaking in Letby’s favor, and this scientist now seems to be under some form of police harassment from the little I’ve heard?

The scientist also said that the defense basically surrendered the case and refused to bring up the best evidence. Seems typical of a bourgeois frame up, reminds me of Mumia.

Please find information about that paper by looking up: “Richard Gill Lucy Letby” as well as the website: “Rex v. Lucy Letby 2023”.

A table accused Letby of correlations between baby deaths and the shifts she was present. The data seemed to be handpicked. Someone wrote somewhere that they had performed a better statistical analysis and Letby’s shifts were not actually associated with an increase in death rate.

I then looked at the websites of the fake socialists. I found no article questioning the Letby case. I then looked at websites of known reactionaries. I found many reactionaries saying things like: “hang her now”. And they were saying all kinds of things against this woman which were clearly linked with their reactionary beliefs. And they were taking advantage of the widespread hate against her in order to push broader anti-working class views.

So, it seems like many people are out to hunt Letby, while barely anyone is raising even the smallest complaint about any trial irregularities. I see virtually zero dissent beyond that one scientist and maybe one in a million people randomly writing on Twitter: “maybe she was innocent?” Given that this could pave the road for further attacks against the working class and may be part of a nasty bigger plot, could the Spartacist League research this case? Again, I am not sure of her innocence or guilt, but I do desire to protect rights, freedoms and fair trials.

If I am right, what better way for the Spartacist League to again demarcate itself from the fake socialists and once again become hated by the whole of bourgeois society and prove its loyalty to the working class, as will become apparent to its vanguard, and those who are loyal to democracy and freedom in general?

Workers Hammer replies:

28 August 2024

Workers Hammer never responded to your letter and request because we dismissed them from the get-go and simply bought into the accounts of the press and the court about Lucy Letby’s conviction. We were obviously wrong. In recent months, multiple accounts have come out raising serious questions about Letby’s case, repeating many of the same points you laid out.

The leadership of the SL/B and Workers Hammer wish to make clear to you that it was an absolute failure on our part to dismiss your letter. That was a capitulation to bourgeois public opinion. Simply put, we failed to look at this case with the heavy dose of suspicion that any trade unionist — not to speak of communist — should have when confronted with such a story. Guilty or not, the conviction of a worker on flimsy evidence is a threat to the entire working class. The conviction of Letby has created a dangerous precedent for all NHS workers, and publishing the details you sent us a year ago could have helped her case.

We cannot go back in time. But we are taking this episode as a warning and want to rectify our failure by urging the workers movement to defend Letby. This is a key part of the struggle to save the NHS and defend its workforce against management scapegoating of staff for the system’s failings.

Comradely,
Vincent David, editor of Workers Hammer

NHS unions: defend Lucy Letby!

On 13 May, the New Yorker magazine published an article that blew the lid off the 2023 frame-up trial that convicted neonatal nurse Lucy Letby of killing seven babies in the Countess of Chester hospital. Since then, dozens of articles have been published showing that her conviction was based on false and misleading evidence. The Guardian, Times, Telegraph, Daily Mail and BBC, who previously howled against her as a serial killer, are now awash with articles exposing many flaws in the evidence presented to this monstrous show trial.

The turnaround in opinion is a pivotal moment: the NHS unions must act now to overturn the wrongful conviction of Lucy Letby. Every nurse and junior doctor knows that what happened to her can happen to them. Their fears of being scapegoated are stated bluntly in an open letter by nurses saying that they are “terrified to continue working in the NHS as we believe that next time it could be one of us who is blamed for a failing system” (Open Letter Regarding the Conviction of Lucy Letby).

The signatories to this letter are putting their necks on the line against the bullying NHS bosses. The RCN, Unison, BMA and all health unions must act now: launch a campaign to defend Lucy Letby! This is in the interest of all their members, who face horrendous working conditions and pitiful pay levels to prop up the decrepit and increasingly privatised NHS. Organise a mass union demonstration outside the public inquiry planned for 10 September to demand: Freedom now for Lucy! Give her £5 million and her job back, if she wants it!