‘Cruel, calculated’ Lucy Letby to spend rest of life in prison

Nurse Lucy Letby, who was unmasked as the UK’s most prolific child serial killer in modern times, has been given a whole-life sentence.

The 33-year-old was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six other infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Letby deliberately injected babies with air, force fed others milk and poisoned two of the infants with insulin.

She refused to appear in the dock for her sentencing hearing.

Letby will spend the rest of her life behind bars, becoming only the fourth woman in UK history to receive such a sentence.

Whole-life orders are the most severe punishment available and are reserved for those who commit the most heinous crimes.

Mr Justice Goss said the “cruelty and calculation” of Letby’s actions were “truly horrific”.

“You acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies and in gross breach of the trust that all citizens place in those who work in the medical and caring professions,” he said.

He added handover sheets relating to all but the first four babies were found when police searched Letby’s home, which he was satisfied she kept as “morbid records”.

“There was a malevolence bordering on sadism in your actions,” he said.

“During the course of this trial you have coldly denied any responsibility for your wrongdoing.

“You have no remorse. There are no mitigating factors.”

He said Letby would be provided with copies of his remarks and the personal statements of the parents.

Ben Myers KC, defending Letby, said the neonatal nurse had “maintained her innocence throughout these proceedings” so there was nothing he was “able to add in mitigation that was capable of reducing the sentence”.

The public gallery was full of parents of the babies – some cried quietly as the victim impact statements were read earlier.

Some of the jury members, who sat through nine months of evidence, also appeared upset as they heard the statements.

The mother of a baby boy killed by nurse Letby said she was “horrified that someone so evil exists” as the families’ victim impact statements were read out in court.

Addressing an empty dock, the mother of Baby C, who became emotional, told the court that knowing her son’s murderer was watching over them was like “something out of a horror story”.

The mother of Baby D, who was holding a toy rabbit as she read her statement, said Letby’s “wicked sense of entitlement and abuse of her role as a trusted nurse” was a “scandal”.

The parents of Baby G, who was the most premature of all the babies, weighing just 535g (1lb 3oz), told the court: “God saved her” but then “the devil found her”.

This is a distressing case so if you, or someone you know, need help after reading about it, the details of organisations offering assistance can be found on the BBC Action Line website.

A total of 70 criminals are serving a whole-life order, four of whom are being held in secure hospitals.

They will never be considered for release, unless there are exceptional compassionate grounds to warrant it.

The other women to have been given a whole-life sentence are serial killers Rose West and Joanna Dennehy, as well as Moors murderer Myra Hindley, who has since died.

Sir Keir Starmer has urged the government to “get on” and bring forward proposals to force offenders to face their victims after Letby refused to appear in the dock.

“I want to see action as quickly as possible in this case because victims’ families have been through the most awful ordeal,” he said.

“I hope the government will do it because I think it can be done very quickly.”

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said Letby was “not just a murderer but a coward, whose failure to face her victims’ families, refusing to hear their impact statements and society’s condemnation, is the final insult”.

“We are looking to change the law so offenders can be compelled to attend sentencing hearings,” he said.

Earlier Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also said it was “cowardly” for convicted criminals not to face victims or their families in court.

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