British nurse gets life in prison for murdering seven babies

UPDATE, 8/23/23: Lucy Letby, the British nurse who was found guilty of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others in the UK hospital where she worked has been sentenced to life in prison.

The life sentence was handed down by a Manchester Crown Court in northern England. Justice James Goss explained, “This was a cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder involving the smallest and most vulnerable of children.”

Letby did not attend her sentencing, where family members of her victims read statements meant for her to hear. The judge ordered that his remarks and the family statements be given to Letby.

“There was a deep malevolence bordering on sadism. During the course of this trial you have coldly denied any responsibility for your wrongdoing. You have no remorse. There are no mitigating factors,” he said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called it “cowardly” that Letby did not appear at her sentencing to face her victims and their families. He said he is considering changing the law to require defendants to attend their sentencing hearings.

8/18/23: Lucy Letby, the British neonatal nurse accused of killing eight babies while working in a hospital, has been found guilty of seven murders. Her trial has sparked international outrage.

In 2020, Letby’s crimes came to light, as she was accused of not only killing eight infants, but of attempting to kill 10 more. Her trial began last year, during which disturbing details were released.

Letby reportedly killed the infants by injecting them with insulin and air; she attempted to kill one baby on three separate occasions, but failed. Her youngest victim was just one day old, and was killed within 90 minutes of Letby starting her shift.

Doctors testified how they fought to save children, and were shocked when they realized who the culprit was.

Dr. Stephen Brearey, the lead consultant at the neonatal unit at Countess of Chester Hospital said they realized it had to be Letby after analyzing staffing information. “We tried to be as thorough as possible,” he said, according to the BBC. “I think I can remember saying, ‘Oh no, it can’t be Lucy. Not nice Lucy.'”

However, Breary said hospital executives failed to act on their concerns, and that some children could have been saved. “Discussing with police at that stage would seem to be a sensible action to take,” he told the Guardian. If that had happened, it’s reasonable to conclude that [two] triplets, Child O and Child P, would be alive today.”

READ: EXCLUSIVE: Medical resident says hospital left baby to die after failed abortion

Instead, executives presented supposed proof of Letby’s innocence, and forced Breary and other concerned staffers to apologize to her.

“We were all stunned. It’s still etched in everybody’s minds,” he said. “It’s just the most horrific meeting I’m ever likely to attend really. We didn’t get into any sort of meaningful discussion with them, because it probably would have ended badly anyway. We all felt obviously very intimidated and bullied into agreeing to their demands.”

The parents of twins, both victims of Letby, called her a “hateful human being” in an interview with the BBC.

“In the corridor, I could immediately hear crying,” the mother said. “It felt more than crying. It was screaming. It was screaming. And I was like, what happened? What’s the matter with him? I walked into the room, seen it was my boy, and he had blood ’round his mouth. And Lucy was there, faffing about [doing things in a disorganized fashion].”

The parents were told that the registrar had been notified and was coming, and to go back to the ward. But soon, they began receiving frantic calls from their midwife, urging them to get back as soon as possible, even notifying them that a priest had been called. “I just knew at that point,” the father said. “You don’t call a priest unless someone’s dying.”

They were brought back and told that their son had been christened. “The consultant said, ‘you know, we’re going to stop,'” the mother recalled through tears. “‘We want him to die in your arms, rather than being worked on.’ So we said OK, and they passed him to us, and he died.”

Their other son began struggling soon afterward.

“I said to my husband, ‘Please not again, we can’t do this again,'” she said. “This can’t be happening.’ It’s almost bang on 24 hours since our other son had died. So I went, and I sat with him all night.” Though he survived, he has severe learning disabilities and “complex needs,” which his mother believes is from Letby’s attempted murder.

Letby still proclaims her innocence, and said she wouldn’t take part in her sentencing next week.

“Today is not a time for celebration. There are no winners in this case,” Nicola Evans, detective chief inspector for the Cheshire Constabulary, said in a statement. “Our focus right now is very much on the families of the babies. The compassion and strength shown by the parents — and wider family members — has been overwhelming.”