Lucy Letby showed signs of being “inadequate” rather than a psychopath and showed an unusual trait in court, according to psychiatrists examining her case.
The serial killer is serving 15 whole-life orders over the death of seven youngsters and the attempted murders of a further seven infants – including one she tried to kill twice.
Experts have questioned whether or not the child murderer is a psychopath, with some leading psychiatrists saying there are traits which suggest she isn’t.
The Mirror reports Dr Michael Crawford says that she lacks typical psychopath traits. But the consultant forensic psychiatrist wasn’t involved in the Letby case and can’t make a clinical diagnosis as he hasn’t assessed her in person.
The Independent reports he said: “She doesn’t seem psychopathic to me. She appears more like an inadequate woman who’s living a very empty life that has this real need for fulfilment.”
And speaking for a new book on Letby, Professor Mark Freestone, who has worked with some of the country’s most dangerous criminals, agreed.
He also pointed to that psychopathy is less well understood in women and that antisocial behaviour doesn’t occur with such frequency.
He continued: “Psychopaths are inherently quite chaotic. They don’t do ‘normal’. They don’t make bedrooms look nice so they can live there. Everything is temporary, they’re usually quite promiscuous sexually.
“They’re pathological liars who don’t lie constructively. There’s pretty good evidence that there is a neurological problem in people with a diagnostic psychopathy … I just don’t get any of that from Letby at all.”
In fact psychiatrists do not have a clear condition for Letby. Borderline personality disorder is a theory that has been put forward for her crimes with a lack of emotion as a symptom.
And Julia Quenzler, a court illustrator with more than 30 years of experience drawing some of the country’s most infamous criminals, pointed to one unusual trait.
She reportedly said: “She just looked somewhat vacant and sat very still. It was difficult to read anything from her – I don’t recall seeing anyone quite like that before.
“You’d almost have thought that perhaps she was on some sort of medication – I didn’t see any reaction, movement or any expression.”
Letby, of Hereford, Herefordshire, was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of offences at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit, where she worked as a nurse, between June 2015 and June 2016.
The 34-year-old is the UK’s most prolific child killer of recent times. She injected air into the stomach of toddlers via feeding tubes and compromised their breathing.
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