25 August 2023 , 10:10
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It was Lucy Letby's chaotic habit of scribbling down her deepest and darkest thoughts that ultimately played a part in putting her behind bars for the rest of her life.
But one look at her messy and disorganised handwritten notes, which were retrieved from her Chester home during a police search, does not reveal much to the average eye, aside from her harrowing admissions.
However, to a handwriting expert, there is a whole lot we can learn about Letby's character after examining her distinctive scrawl and that infamous 'I AM EVIL. I DID THIS' Post-it note.
Graphologist Tracey Trussell, author of Life Lines, has shared what the neonatal nurse's scribbles and 2016 diary comments actually reveal about her personality and inner thoughts.
Tracey said this note expressed Letby's 'repressed anger' and the red box which resembles prison bars shows her guilt (PA)Analysis of her handwriting suggests to Tracey that the serial killer was repressing anger and lacked sympathy, and it became very clear to her that Letby should never have been given the responsibility of care. She told the Daily Mail: "She was capable of projecting gentleness and charm but Letby's often reclining style of handwriting shows how she was withdrawn particularly when stressed, generally on the defensive and potentially capable of irreverent actions."
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Tracey believes the wide word spacing shows that Letby refrained from allowing people to get too close and the downward strokes imply she was impatient and lacked empathy. She explained the broadness of Letby's handwriting suggests she was unable to "assert any self-discipline" and was likely to act impulsively. She said the samples were littered with clues about her "never-ending, out-of-control spiral".
Talking about the heavier pressure evident in the letter 'f' in 'feel' on the green Post-it note - where Letby writes, 'I feel very alone and scared' - Tracey claims it reveals an energy that Letby was unable to control. "Generally, poor quality of pen strokes - showing variable pressure patterns on copies or under magnification - are one of the most prevalent features here, and the strongest clue that Letby was feeling emotionally off-key and immensely dissatisfied inside," she said.
She explained the pressure on the letter 'f' highlights an 'undercurrent of physical energy' Letby struggled to contain (PA)Tracey also raises the triangular shapes and long loops that wriggle back up the stems highlighting "repressed aggression and control freakery going on behind closed doors". While the blotches and smears on some of the notes are like spots of guilt and according to the expert, hint at an 'inner secret' that was suffocating her. We now know this to be her murderous killing spree of vulnerable infants in hospital.
The graphologist continued to say that Letby's handwriting showed she felt ashamed but could not control her violent urges. The crowded spacing suggests she had lost her judgement, she claims. Though it is not just Letby's written words that have meaning, the doodles of hearts, squares, circles and rectangular shapes also show a lot about her thought process.
Tracey explained that the hearts represent her romantic outlook on life whereas the heavy shading in shapes reveals anxiety and pent-up aggression. "Perhaps most telling is the rectangular box with vertical bars like in a prison cell which is crossed out revealing Letby's guilt and self-denial," she said, adding that the choice of red ink holds significance too - implying deep feelings of anger, love and danger.