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Former nurse Lucy Letby sentenced to life in prison

Former nurse Lucy Letby sentenced to life in prison
Photo © Dennis Turner

Lucy Letby, the former nurse found guilty of murdering seven babies, has been sentence to a whole life order at Manchester Crown Court.

This rare sentence means she will spend the rest of her life due to the seriousness of her crimes.

Lucy Letby was handed a whole life order for each of the seven counts of murder and the judge additionally ordered that the provisions for early release be suspended.

Handing down the sentence for the murder of seven babies and attempted murder of six others Mr Justice Gross said: ‘This was a cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder.’

Mr Justice Gross told Ms Letby that there was ‘a deep malevolence bordering on sadism’ in her actions adding ‘you have coldly denied any responsibility for your wrongdoing and sought attribute some fault to others. You have no remorse. There are no mitigating factors.’

The judge said that Ms Letby had ‘acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies’.

He added: ‘Loving parents have been robbed of their cherished children and others have to live with the physical and mental consequences of your actions. Siblings have been deprived of brothers and sisters. You have caused deep psychological trauma, brought enduring grief and feelings of guilt, caused strains in relationships and disruption to the lives of all the families of all your victims.’

Ms Letby refused to be present in court for the sentencing in which the parents of some victims described the impact of her crimes.

The judge ordered for Ms Letby to be provided with a copy of the sentencing remarks and victim impact statements in her absence.

 

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