Lucy Letby will die in jail as she is sentenced to whole life order: Serial killer who murdered seven babies refuses to face court in last act of wickedness after families told how Devil nurse with an ‘enthusiasm’ for inflicting pain destroyed their lives
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Lucy Letby (pictured center) will die behind bars after a judge today sentenced her to a whole life order – as the killer nurse cowered in her cell rather than face the bereaved relatives whose lives she destroyed. The most prolific child serial killer in modern British history murdered seven newborns and tried to kill six more. She is the fourth woman to receive a whole life order after Myra Hindley, Rose West and triple killer Joanna Dennehy.
The decision not to attend court to hear her fate was branded ‘the final act of wickedness from a coward’ – and has prompted yet more calls for new laws to force criminals to come to the dock. This morning, families of the 33-year-old’s victims told how their world had been ‘shattered by evil disguised as a caring nurse,’ as they told her ‘you are nothing.’ Issuing his sentencing remarks as if she was still in the room, Mr Justice Goss said Letby displayed a ‘morbid fascination’ with seriously ill children and inflicted ‘acute pain’ as they desperately fought for life.
He told the court: ‘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. The babies you harmed were born prematurely and some were at risk of not surviving but in each case you deliberately harmed them, intending to kill them.’ The judge said Letby would be provided copies of his remarks and the personal statements of the families of her victims. He said only Letby knew what had driven her to embark on a ‘cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder,’ and noted she had ‘coldly denied any responsibility for your wrongdoing.’
The parents of Baby A, who was murdered by Letby in 2015, and his twin sister Baby B – who was attacked but survived – told of their pain in a victim impact statement read out to the court. They said: ‘We never got to hold our little boy while he was alive, because you took him away. What should have been the happiest time of our lives became our worst nightmare.’ The mother of Child D – who clutched a small stuffed rabbit toy – said Letby’s ‘wicked sense of entitlement’ had led her to claim lives ‘that were not yours to take.’
None of the parents had any idea their children had been the victims of foul play until they were visited by police up to three years later. But today, the mother of Child N, who Letby tried to murder, said she always knew her son had been deliberately harmed. The mother of Child O and Child P – two brothers in a set of triples – said she continued to be haunted by ‘vivid images’ from the time and lived in ‘constant fear’ of anything else happening to her surviving children. Their third son only survived after his parents begged medics at a nearby hospital to take him in.
Earlier today, Mr Justice Goss has said he has no power to force a defendant to attend a sentencing hearing, but the Government has vowed to give judges the power to do so. Rishi Sunak said it is ‘cowardly that people who commit such horrendous crimes do not face their victims.’ Meanwhile, his official spokesman today said the inquiry into Letby’s crimes could be put on a statutory footing. It follows anger that the inquiry was set to only be an independent one – which would not allow those taking part to compel witnesses to intend.
Letby has also refused to give closure to her victims’ families by admitting to her crimes, with the closest she came to acknowledging her guilt being a scrawled message on a Post-it note which read: ‘I am evil, I did this.’ Her parents, Susan (pictured left), 63, and John (pictured right), 77, had attended every day of her trial but were not at her sentencing. Letby preyed on babies small enough to fit in the palm of her hand by injecting them with air or insulin. She targeted one set of triplets and three sets of twins. In one case, she targeted a baby who survived despite being born at 23 weeks in a hospital toilet. The nurse attacked the tiny 1lbs 2oz infant three times by overfeeding her with milk and injecting milk into her stomach. She survived, but the brain damage she suffered at Letby’s hands means she is unlikely to ever be able to walk or talk.
Letby replaced Myra Hindley and Ian Brady as the most prolific child killer in modern British history after she was found guilty of murdering seven premature babies and attempting to murder six more. The only surviving women to receive whole life orders are Rose West and Joanna Dennehy, who stabbed three men to death. Police are now reviewing the care of 4,000 babies she may have come into contact with during a spell at the Countess of Chester Hospital from January 2012 to the end of June 2016 and two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital in 2012 and 2015. More families have already been warned their children may be victims during her five-year NHS career, raising the prospect of Letby appearing again in court.
Detectives are said to have identified 30 other newborns they believe she attacked after a review of incidents at the Countess of Chester hospital where she worked. Letby was on duty for each of the unexplained collapses. All of the babies survived, the Guardian reported. The nurse, a seemingly ‘goofy,’ ‘innocent’ young woman who had Disney cuddly toys on her bed, found different ways to inflict indescribable, inhuman levels of pain, with some of her victims breaking into punishment screams that experienced paediatricians had never heard before. Several had to take time off work to recover from the trauma.
After each of her murders, Letby appeared ‘animated and excited,’ offering to bathe, dress and take photographs of her victims’ bodies. Due to her lack of contrition, her motive remains unclear, but the prosecution believes she got a ‘thrill’ out of ‘playing God.’ They also suggested she had been trying to impress a married doctor, knowing he’d be the one to come and help if she hurt children in her care. Letby would comfort the parents of children she killed – even sending them sympathy cards after their funerals. Before attacking innocent newborns as young as 23-weeks she had told mothers and fathers: ‘Trust me, I’m a nurse.’
In one case, a senior nurse on duty had to repeatedly tell Letby to come out of a room where a grieving couple were spending their last moments with their infant son. The father said Letby came in with a ventilated basket and told them: ‘You’ve said your goodbyes. Do you want me to put him in here?’ This prompted his wife to tell her: ‘He’s not dead yet.’ Letby attacked several babies by shoving hard plastic or wire tubes down their throats. Another suffered a ruptured liver – a violent injury likened by experts to injuries seen only in road accident victims. Read the full story:
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