On Monday, Britain’s most prolific child killer of modern times was sentenced to life in prison for murdering seven newborn babies and attempting to murder six others in her care.
A judge in Manchester, northwest England, issued nurse Lucy Letby with a rare whole-life order — the most severe penalty available and reserved solely for the most egregious acts — which means she will never be released.
“The order of the court is a whole-life order on each and every offence and you will spend the rest of your life in prison,” said judge James Goss.
However, Letby, 33, infuriated the families of her young victims by refusing to attend the punishment hearing, causing politicians to promise to eliminate the loophole.
Goss claimed she operated with “premeditation, calculation, and cunning” and “malevolence bordering on sadism” throughout the trial, “coldly” refusing responsibility for her acts.
The majority of her young victims were in excruciating pain, yet she misled colleagues at the Countess of Chester Hospital about what she had done.
Letby kept medical notes as “morbid records” of what she had done, which were discovered during police searches of her home following her arrest.
“You have no remorse,” the judge said. “There are no mitigating factors.”
“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,” he added.
“Lifelong harm” had been caused to her victims’ families by cutting short young lives “almost as soon as they began”, the judge said.
“Loving parents have been robbed of their cherished children. You have caused deep psychological trauma,” he added.
There have been no explanations for the deaths, which occurred between June 2015 and June 2016, making Letby one of Britain’s most renowned serial killers.
70 criminals are currently serving life sentences in the United Kingdom.
Only three women have previously received the sentence: “Moors Murderer” Myra Hindley, who killed five children in the 1960s with her partner Ian Brady, and serial killers Rose West and Joanna Dennehy. Hindley passed away in 2002.
Harold Shipman, a medical doctor who murdered 15 of his patients but is suspected of murdering up to 250, was sentenced to life in prison in 2000.
he committed suicide in his cell in 2004.
