Killer nurse Lucy Letby given rare 'whole life term'

A nurse who murdered seven babies and tried to kill six more whilst working at a Cheshire hospital has been given a rare 'whole life' prison term.

The 33-year-old from Hereford was found guilty by a jury of the charges last week which took place whilst she worked on the Countess of Chester Neo-natal unit between 2015 and 2016.

The court heard her crimes were so severe that the appropriate starting point for Letby was a lifetime behind bars with no minimum term.

It will mean she will never be eligible for parole.

Letby was not in court to hear the sentencing having refused to enter the courtroom since last Thursday.

Trial Judge Mr Justice Goss said:

"For almost a period of 13 months when in your mid-twenties and employed as a neo-natal nurse you murdered seven babies and attempted to murder six others, in the case of one of them trying on two separate occasions two weeks apart.

"You acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies.

"The babies you harmed were born prematurely and some were at risk of not surviving but in each case you deliberately harmed them.

"You claimed you only ever did your best to care for them, that was but one of the many lies you have told.

"You prided yourself in your competence, and your fellow nurses spoke very highly of you, having started as a band 5 nurse in 2012 you became a mentor to student nurses and in the spring of 2015 gained the qualification that enabled you to care for the sickest babies on the unit.

"You relished being in the intensive care nursery.

"There was premeditation calculation and cunning in your actions, you specially targeted twins and latterly triplets.

"The great major of your victims suffered acute pain as a result of what you did to them, they all fought for survival.

"You knew the last thing anyone working on the unit would think was anyone caring for babies was harming them.

"On occasions, your curly and callously made inappropriate remarks to some of the grieving parts at the time of or in the immediate aftermath of their death.

"You had a fascination with the babies and their families.

"The impact of your crimes has been immense. The lives of newborn babies were ended almost as soon as they began and lifelong harm has been caused in horrific circumstances.

"By their nature and number, such murders and attempted murders are offences of very exceptional seriousness.

"This was a cruel calculated and cynical campaign of child murder knowing that your actions were causing significant physical suffering.

"There was a deep malevolence bordering on sadism. You have no remorse, there are no mitigating factors."

"Now there is no debate that in your own words... you are evil."

Speaking in court the mother of Child C, who Letby murdered in June 2015, said when her child was born "I understood right there and then the bond between a mother and her baby."

But when her baby boy died "It was a pain for us all that was just too hard to bare.

"Knowing his murdered was watching us is like something out of a horror story.

"I blamed myself entirely for his death - there are many what-ifs that have kept me awake.

"Eight years have passed and our grief is just as heavy as it was.

"I think about what his voice might have sounded like, what he would have looked like now, who he would have been.

"To think you could get any kind of gratification from inflicting pain... I am horrified that someone so evil exists.

"To you, our son's life was just collateral damage in your desire for drama.

"At least there is now no debate that in your own works, you killed them on purpose because you are evil."

Not attending court: "One final act of wickedness from the coward."

Another mother, who also lost one of her twins and almost lost her other child at the hands of Letby told the court:

"Losing Child E was the most difficult thing we've ever experienced. Our world was shattered.

"Lucy is right, she killed them on purpose because she wasn’t good enough to care for them.

"It’s cowardly and sickening and I feel like my boys were just a pawn in her sick and twisted game.

"I’d like to thank Lucy for taking the stand and showing the court who she really is...

"Even in the final days of the trial she has tried to control things, the disrespect she has shown the families... she’s decided she has had enough and has stayed in her cell... one final act of wickedness from the coward."

"Letby will never again be able to inflict suffering"

Senior Crown Prosecutor Pascale Jones, of CPS Mersey Cheshire said:

“Today’s sentence means Letby will never again be able to inflict the suffering she did while working as a neonatal nurse. She has rightly been brought to justice by the courts.

“My thoughts remain with the families of the victims who have demonstrated enormous strength in the face of extraordinary suffering. I hope that the trial has brought answers which had long eluded them.”

The Crown Prosecution Service have until the 15th of September to decide whether to pursue a re-trial on the six counts of attempted murder upon which the jury failed to reach a verdict.

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