A judge sentenced a British nurse on Monday to life in prison without the possibility of release for the murder of seven infants and the attempted murder of six others. The sentence by the Manchester Crown Court is the most severe penalty possible under British law.
After 22 days of deliberation, a jury on Friday found 33-year-old Lucy Letby guilty of killing seven infants, five boys and two girls, at the Countess of Chester Hospital, where Letby worked as a nurse in the neonatal unit.
She was also acquitted on one charge of attempted murder, and the jury was hung on several other counts, per the New York Post.
Letby killed or injured the children over the span of one year, from June 2015 to June 2016, by injecting air into their bloodstream, poisoning them with insulin, or force-feeding them milk, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
When a lead pediatric doctor at the hospital noticed that only one nurse, Letby, was on duty during each of the deaths of three babies in 14 days, he brought it to the attention of hospital administrators, The Guardian reported. However, Letby was apparently so adept at hiding her acts and was so well-liked by her colleagues that the suspicions were dismissed, the news outlet reported.
Over the next year, she killed or caused severe harm to several other newborns.
In June 2016, Letby tried to kill one baby before heading off on a two-day vacation to the Spanish resort town of Ibiza. When she returned, she succeeded in murdering two of the identical triplet brothers who were born while she was away on vacation.
When doctors tried to save one of the boys, Letby asked them, “He’s not leaving here alive, is he?” per The Guardian.
After the deaths of two of the triplet infants, Letby was removed from the neonatal unit. Since then, the hospital has cared for more than 2,500 infants and only recorded one death, The Guardian reported.
Justice James Goss said that the “exceptional circumstances” of the case demanded the rare “whole-life order.” Only three other women in the UK have ever received a sentence of life in prison.
Letby, who had claimed to be innocent, did not attend the sentencing, just as she was not present for the verdict last week, per the NY Post.
“There was a deep malevolence bordering on sadism in your actions,” Goss said, addressing the defendant even though she was not present. She was to be provided a transcript of the proceedings, the AP reported.
“During the course of this trial, you have coldly denied any responsibility for your wrongdoing. You have no remorse. There are no mitigating factors,” the judge said.
The parents of the children Letby killed or maimed found Letby’s absence at the sentencing to be just one more act of cruelty the former infant nurse committed against them.
“Even in these final days of the trial, she tried to control things; the disrespect she has shown the families and the court show what type of person she is,” said the mother of two of Letby’s victims, per the NY Post.
Her twin boys were given anonymity in the court records as Child E, who died, and Child F, who survived but with learning deficiencies that his mother says were caused by insulin poisoning, per the AP.
The mother spoke of the regret she felt because the final moments of Child E’s life were spent in Letby’s hands as she bathed and clothed the boy in a wool gown.
“He was buried in that gown, a gift from the unit chosen by Lucy,” she said, per the AP.
“I don’t think we will ever get over the fact that our daughter was tortured till she had no fight left in her, and everything she went through over her short life was deliberately done by someone who was supposed to protect her and help her come home where she belonged,” the mother of Child I told the court.
Letby showed little emotion during the trial, only crying when a doctor she was rumored to have been infatuated with came to court to give testimony, per The Guardian.
Between 2015 and 2016, the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit reported 15 fatalities — more than twice its annual average. Court documents show that of the 24 suspicious medical incidents considered in the trial, Letby had been present for all 24.
The Dallas Express reached out to the hospital for comment and received a statement by Jane Tomkinson, acting chief executive officer at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
“Following the trial of former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, the Trust welcomes the announcement of an independent inquiry by the Department of Health and Social Care,” the statement read. “In addition, the Trust will be supporting the ongoing investigation by Cheshire Police.
“Due to ongoing legal considerations, it would not be appropriate for the Trust to make any further comment at this time.”
