Killer nurse refuses to face victims’ families at court sentencing

A “cowardly” nurse found guilty of murdering seven babies has learned her fate, but only after insulting her victims’ families one last time.

A UK judge has said a nurse who killed seven babies in her care had a “a deep malevolence bordering on sadism” as he sentenced her to die behind bars.

But in a final insult to the families of her victims, slammed as “cowardly” by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, murderer Lucy Letby refused to appear for her sentencing.

Judge Sir James Goss handed Letby the rare sentence, which is life imprisonment with no possibility of release, at Manchester Crown Court in northern England on Monday, telling her: “You will spend the rest of your life in prison”.

It puts Letby in the same category of female serial killers as Myra Hindley and Rosemary West.

Letby, 33, became the UK’s worst ever child killer last week after she was convicted of the murders of seven infants, most of who were born premature or with health problems, and the attempted murder of a further six.

She killed through a variety of means, including force feeding and injecting babies with air or insulin.

She became a “constant malevolent presence” on the ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital, in Chester in England’s north west, the court heard.

33-year-old Lucy Letby was found guilty on Friday of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six more. Picture: Cheshire Constabulary via Getty Images

Final insult from Letby

Letby’s decision to snub the court and the families led to fresh calls for criminals to be forced to attend their sentencing hearings.

“It’s cowardly that people who commit such horrendous crimes do not face their victims,” Mr Sunak said, adding he would look to change the law in the UK.

Despite Letby’s decision, Justice Goss read out his sentencing remarks as if he were addressing her directly.

“This was a cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder involving the smallest and most vulnerable of children,” he said.

Letby, he said, comforted parents after their babies were dead or injured. In one instance, she even sent a condolence card.

“There was a deep malevolence bordering on sadism, “ said Justice Goss.

“You have no remorse, there are no mitigating factors, the offences are of sufficient severity to require a whole life order.

“You will spend the rest of your life in prison.”

The Countess of Chester Hospital, where Letby worked. Picture: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

‘Worst nightmare’

A victim impact statement from the mum of twins Child A, who was killed by the nurse, and Child B, who Letby attacked, said 2015 was “going to be the best year of our lives” and “everything was perfect”, with the two babies.

She never would have imagined “such despicable actions” being carried out by a nurse, the mum said.

She added: “We never got to hold him, as you took him away”.

“What should have been the happiest time of our lives became our worst nightmare.”

The mum of baby boy Child C, who was murdered by Letby, wept as she said she will always remember the “overwhelming wave of emotion” she felt holding her “tiny, feisty boy”.

She said the “trauma” from that night would live with the family forever as “knowing his murderer was watching us was like something out of a horror story”.

The mum continued to sob as she told how she questions whether her son would still be alive had she had not gone to bed that night.

She added: “In the dark days after his death I would open his memory box … I used to wear his hand (prints) and footprints around my neck.

“On July 3rd when Lucy Letby was arrested I felt so conflicted. She took those hand and footprints.

“Lucy Letby … there is no sentence that will ever compare to the excruciating agony that we have suffered as a consequence of your actions.”

A handout image taken from police bodycam footage when Letby was arrested in 2018. Picture: Cheshire Constabulary/AFP

‘Unleashed hell’

Child D’s mum said her heart broke into a “million pieces” when the her baby girl died.

Clutching a toy rabbit in the witness box, she said her child’s death “unleashed hell” and she was forced to bury her daughter the day before her due date, leaving her wanting to end her own life.

The mum of twins E and F branded Letby “evil disguised as a caring nurse” after she murdered E and attempted to kill his twin brother 24 hours later.

She said Child E was buried in the robe Letby dressed him in before she murdered him, while Child F has been left with “complex and severe disabilities”.

The mum said her boys were a “pawn in [Letby’s] sick, twisted game”, adding: “We have been living a nightmare, but for me, it ends today.

Letby was convicted on Friday following a nine-month trial and 22 days of jury deliberation.

Letby wept as the first set of verdicts was delivered, but refused to enter court as the case was brought to a close.

The collapses and deaths of the children were found not to “naturally-occurring tragedies” and instead the gruesome work of a “poisoner”.

During a mammoth trial, jurors were told some of the newborns were repeatedly targeted by the nurse, including one baby killed by Letby after three previous failed attempts.

She was arrested in 2018 after staff grew suspicious of the “significant rise” in the number of babies dying or suffering “catastrophic” collapses.

Letby was found to be the “common denominator” among the deaths and collapses, having been on shift every time one occurred.

— with The Sun