I freed ‘Dutch Lucy Letby’ – terrifying parallels with Britain’s killer nurse means I KNOW I can clear her too

THE blonde nurse bowed her head in court as she was sentenced to life for killing babies on her watch. Prosecutors claimed the smoking gun evidence came from a string of “sinister” diary entries — and hospital shift patterns which revealed she had been present at all of the deaths.

Suspicious staff had blown the whistle after one too many coincidences between the babies dying and the “oddball” nurse. And a nation had recoiled in horror. Sound familiar?. Well, this condemned baby-killer was not Lucy Letby, the “Angel of Death” British nurse now serving 15 life sentences.

This was Dutch nurse Lucia de Berk — found guilty of killing seven and attempting to kill three of her young patients in 2003 and 2004. In an astonishing about-face, the “worst serial killer” in the history of the Netherlands then had her ­convictions overturned before she was exonerated seven years later.

Now — as top doctors question the science behind Letby’s conviction — critics are using De Berk’s case to highlight how doubts over 35-year-old neonatal nurse Letby’s case could very well be justified. And Professor Richard Gill, a statistician who was part of the team that freed de Berk, has told The Sun he believes he can use the same ­arguments to also clear her British counterpart.

De Berk, then 40, was jailed for life with no parole in 2003. She had worked as a paediatric nurse across three hospitals between 1997 and 2001. But, as in Letby’s case, her colleagues became suspicious that patients often died under her watch. These hunches were deepened when a post-mortem carried out on a five-month-old baby who had died suddenly suggested foul play.

So Dutch police launched a mammoth investigation, finding that in a few cases there was evidence of poisoning — although in most deaths no real explanation could be found. Despite the doubt, de Berk was charged with killing 13 patients and attempting to kill five others by injecting them with tranquillisers, painkillers and potassium.

Her trial — which began in September 2002 — included evidence that bore a chilling similarity to that used in Letby’s case. There were diary entries de Berk had attempted to burn that the prosecution claimed showed that she was “obsessed by death”.

Police had also found books about crimes and murders in her home. And medical experts were called to give evidence — claiming the deaths showed some patients received increasing dosages of drugs. Ultimately she was convicted of murdering four patients and attempting to kill three others after prosecutors argued she was the very last person at their bedside.

But Professor Richard Gill said the Letby and de Berk cases are “incredibly similar” and include many of the same “mistakes”. He said: “The ball is rolling. Lots of people are convinced that this was probably a miscarriage of justice.”. And he said the evidence used to convict de Berk was just in-depth statistical probabilities that were later proven to be inaccurate.

De Berk spent five years behind bars at Scheveningen prison before the case went to the appeal court. Speaking after her acquittal in 2010, she said: “I want to warn people, especially nurses: What happened to me can happen to you too.”. Now — 15 years after de Berk walked free — Dr Gill revealed to The Sun what the reclusive de Berk, who has not spoken to the Press for years, told him when asked about Letby.

The nurse, who is now aged 63, said the case “causes her anguish”. Letby was sentenced to 15 whole life orders after two trials across 2023 and 2024. She was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill eight more while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.

Child A, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby injected air intravenously into the bloodstream of the baby boy. COUNT 1 GUILTY. Child B, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby attempted to murder the baby girl, the twin sister of Child A, by injecting air into her bloodstream. COUNT 2 GUILTY.

Child C, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said Letby forced air down a feeding tube and into the stomach of the baby boy. COUNT 3 GUILTY. Child D, allegation of murder. The Crown said air was injected intravenously into the baby girl. COUNT 4 GUILTY. Child E, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby murdered the twin baby boy with an injection of air into the bloodstream and also deliberately caused bleeding to the infant. COUNT 5 GUILTY.

Child F, allegation of attempted murder. Letby was said by prosecutors to have poisoned the twin brother of Child E with insulin. COUNT 6 GUILTY. Child G, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby targeted the baby girl by overfeeding her with milk and pushing air down her feeding tube. COUNT 7 GUILTY, COUNT 8 GUILTY, COUNT 9 NOT GUILTY.