A British judge on Monday sentenced a young nurse to life in prison for the murder of seven children and the attempted murder of six others at a hospital where she worked in the UK. The judge addressed former nurse Lucy Letby (33) in Manchester Crown Court in Northern England, stating, "Over the course of 13 months, you killed seven vulnerable children and attempted to kill six others. Some of them were just one day or a few days old. You will spend the rest of your life in prison," noting that her crimes caused significant suffering. While the judge delivered his statement, some families of the victims were sobbing and embracing each other, according to Sky News. He remarked, "There was deep-seated malice approaching sadism," indicating that she "coldly denied" her crimes.
Media reports indicated that Letby refused to leave her cell and appear in court on Monday. CNN reported that Letby's refusal to attend court for the sentencing sparked anger and calls for a change in the law to require perpetrators of the most heinous crimes to face the families of their victims. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described her as "cowardly" for refusing to appear in court. He stated, "I think it is cowardly that people who commit such horrific crimes do not face their victims and hear directly the impact of their crimes on them and their families and loved ones." He confirmed that they are working on changing the law to ensure that offenders of such crimes are present in court, stating, "This is something we will bring forward in due course."
Judicial authorities reported in a statement on Friday that she had secretly attacked 13 infants in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016. The mother of one of the children killed by Letby said, "There are no words at all that can express the pain and anguish we have suffered as a result of your actions." The mother of twins, one of whom was killed while the other survived, expressed her hope that Letby would live a long life to endure suffering for what she did. The father of the triplets stated in a statement, "Lucy Letby destroyed our lives. The anger and hatred I carry towards her will never go away."
