A nurse will spend the rest of her life in prison after being found guilty of murdering seven babies at a hospital in Chester, England.
via Complex:
On Monday, 33-year-old Lucy Letby was sentenced to a “whole life order,” which is a type of sentence reserved only for extreme murder cases. In a statement, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Letby—who was last week convicted on seven counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder—“used a variety of methods” in the neonatal ward killings in 2015 and 2016.
“In her hands, innocuous substances like air, milk, fluids—or medication like insulin—would become lethal,” Pascale Jones, a reviewing lawyer for CPS, said on Friday when announcing Letby’s conviction. “She perverted her learning and weaponized her craft to inflict harm, grief and death. Time and again, she harmed babies, in an environment which should have been safe for them and their families.”
In a separate statement to Complex, Jones said Letby had “rightly been brought to justice” with Monday’s sentence:
“Today’s sentence means Letby will never again be able to inflict the suffering she did while working as a neonatal nurse. She has rightly been brought to justice by the courts. My thoughts remain with the families of the victims who have demonstrated enormous strength in the face of extraordinary suffering. I hope that the trial has brought answers which had long eluded them.”
Prosecution was made possible in large part due to medical records, including the discovery of what prosecutors said were “falsified notes” made by Letby in an effort to cover her tracks. Additionally, prosecutors pointed to a diary and handwritten notes from Letby, including one in which she wrote “I am evil I did this.”
Complex has reached out to CPS for additional comment. This story may be updated.
“Nothing will bring back the babies who died or take away the pain and suffering experienced by all of the families over the years but I hope that the significant sentence will bring some comfort at this dark time,” Nicola Evans, Deputy Senior Investigating Officer with Cheshire police, said on Monday.
As previously reported, parents of some of the victims appeared in court last year. During the lengthy proceedings, the court was told that Letby had at one point taken photos of dead babies lying together in a cot.
Following an extended investigation involving multiple agencies, Letby was initially taken into custody in 2018. Though she denied the allegations against her, she was ultimately found guilty of 14 total counts earlier this month.
That woman was demented. There’s no rehabilitating that. Lock her up.
