Child killer Lucy Letby sentenced to life in prison for murders
From Camera Footage Of The Body Screen Cheshire Constabulary Of Taken Grab Lucy Worn Letby By Issued Arrest
Lucy Letby has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of seven children.
She has been sentenced to a whole-life order, meaning she will spend the rest of her life in prison.
The nurse murdered seven babies and tried to kill six more while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit between 2015 and 2016.
More than a dozen relatives of Letby’s victims sat in the public gallery for the hearing on Monday and eight jurors returned to see the sentencing.
Sentencing Lucy Letby, Mr Justice Goss said: “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.”
Mr Justice Goss told Manchester Crown Court: “There was premeditation, calculation and cunning in your actions.” He said Letby “relished” being in the intensive care unit where she took an interest in “uncommon” complications and targeted twins and triplets.
The judge said the defendant prided herself on her professionalism which enabled her to start harming children without suspicion.
Earlier, the court had heard how families of the victims had told Ms Letby, who did not attend court, "you are nothing"
In a statement read to the court, the mother of Child A, who was murdered by Letby, and Child B, who she attempted to kill, said: “You thought it was your right to play God with our children’s lives.”
She said after the death of Child A they feared for their second child and made sure a member of the family was always with her, but “made a mistake” and started to believe what happened to the first child was a “tragic event that couldn’t be stopped”.
She added: “Little did we know you were waiting for us to leave so you could attack the one thing that gave us a reason to carry on in life.”
In the statement, made on behalf of her and her partner, she said: “Maybe you thought by doing this you would be remembered forever but I want you to know my family will never think of you again.
“From this day you are nothing.”
The mother of Child C choked back tears as she told Letby in her absence: “At least now there is no debate that, in your own words, you killed them on purpose. You are evil. You did this.”
The woman added: “I blame myself entirely for his death. I still live with the guilt that I couldn’t protect him during pregnancy or in his short life."