The Lucy Letby story is revealing so much about society; firstly, the state of censorship in the UK.

Letby is an English nurse who was convicted of murdering seven babies last year. But she was convicted in the public eye long before her trial started. A sensationalistic tabloid press had leapt at the opportunity to create a baby-killing monster. By the time a jury was convened, everyone in the UK already hated Letby.

When the trial commenced, the judge instituted a ban on reporting, to avoid prejudicing the already-prejudiced jury. As the trial proceeded, observers noticed serious problems in the evidence (or lack thereof), but were barred from speaking out. In the end, Letby was convicted.

When I read the story of the conviction, I was completely baffled. How could someone be so evil? But there was no explanation — no motive. It didn't make sense.

The New Yorker article suggests that perhaps it doesn't make sense because Letby is completely innocent. Letby (who was ostensibly taking care of each of the babies who died) was convicted due to our inability to accept the inexplicable.

We throw around the word "witch hunt" too freely, but the New Yorker article paints a realistic image of what a medieval witch hunt might look like today: a woman scapegoated for the deaths of infants, her emotional distress weaponized as evidence of her guilt, with self-proclaimed experts using bunk science to rile up an angry mob.