Lucy Letby, the newborn murdering serial killer, has been sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday by a Manchester court. The 33-year-old nurse was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six more while on duty in the children’s ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England.
Manchester Crown Court judge Justice Gross said at the sentencing, “You acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies.”
Her offences also include “inappropriate remarks” she made after the deaths of the babies.
“Lucy Letby has destroyed our lives. The anger and the hatred I have towards her will never go away. It has destroyed me as a man and as a father,” said a father of two babies murdered by Letby.
The former nurse, however, was not present in the courtroom during her sentence hearing nor did she follow the hearing via videolink from prison.
According to Sky New, Judges have the choice to compel people to appear before them for sentencing but it is reliant on prison governors to execute this order as it would be their staff who would have to force someone from their cell. Nonetheless, an extra two years can be added to a sentence if the person refuses to attend the court.
UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak has said “I think it’s cowardly that people who commit such horrendous crimes do not face their victims”
The parents of the victims were present at the sentencing. One mother said, “Even in these final days of the trial, she tried to control things, the disrespect she has shown the families and the court show what type of person she is.
“We have attended court day in and day out, yet she decides she has had enough, and stays in her cell, just one final act of wickedness from a coward.”
Journalists Josh Halliday, present in the courtroom, tweeted: “The most harrowing two hours I’ve ever spent in a courtroom. I spent some of it writing through tears. The families’ statements – delivered to an empty dock where Letby should have been sitting – were utterly shocking from start to finish.”
The Letby Case
Senior doctors became concerned with a sudden rise in medical emergencies and deaths of babies at the neonatal unit from January 2015 to a span of 18 months. In each case, the child would suddenly develop life threatening complications.
Police were soon asked to look into the matter, and they quickly honed in to Lucy Letby, present at each of the emergencies, usually during the night shift.
She was arrested in July 2018 and then in June 2019. She was arrested once again in November 2020 and was charged with murder and murder attempts between June 2015 and July 2016.
According to the prosecutors, Letby tried to kill 17 babies. It is said that while the babies were in the ward, Letby would give them lethal amounts of insulin, inject air into their bloodstream or stomach, or give them excessive milk.
Her victims include a pair of twins as well as two siblings whom she killed on consecutive days. The youngest victim was a day old while the oldest was an 11 weeks old girl who Letby tried to kill four times till she finally succeeded. Additionally, among premature babies were hopeful cases whose improving condition worsened during the nights shift when Letby was on duty.
As per Reuters, the police have not been able to conclude the motive behind the attacks. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll ever know unless she just chooses to tell us,” said Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, who led the investigation.
Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans, the deputy senior investigating officer, said that Letby had a “healthy social life, she had a circle of friends, she had her parents and holidays”. She claims that police could not find anything unusual for “a woman of her age at that point in her life”.
However, as reported by CNN, handwritten notes and memos were found during a search of her house that read, “I don’t deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough to care for them,” and “I am a horrible evil person” and in capital letters “I am evil I did this.”
Police will be reviewing Letby’s career before the period covered under the charges at Countess of Chester Hospital and at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital where she had spent part of her training.
More than 4,000 babies were admitted in the two hospitals between 2012 to 2016. And while every admission will be thoroughly reviewed, only the “concerning” cases will be further investigated, say Hughes.
