Lucy Letby

2 offences

What the court heard

She was found guilty of murder and attempted murder at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire between June 2015 and June 2016. She was found not guilty on two further counts of attempted murder and verdicts were not reached on six counts of attempted murder. She was a neo-natal nurse when she murdered seven babies and attempted to murder six babies in her care. Sentencing remarks of The Honourable Mr Justice Goss Kt.- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT - REDACTED VERSION 1. The defendant, Lucy Letby, has refused to attend court for this sentence hearing. Accordingly, I have to sentence her in her absence. I shall deliver the sentencing remarks as if she was present to hear them and I direct that she is provided with a transcript of my remarks and copies of the Victim Personal Statements read to the court. 2. Lucy Letby, over a period of almost 13 months between June 2015 and June 2016, when in your mid-20's and employed as a neo-natal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester with specialist training in intensive care, you murdered 7 babies and attempted to murder 6 others, in the case of one of them trying on separate occasions two weeks apart to murder her. You are now to be sentenced for your crimes. I order payment of the statutory surcharge in the appropriate amount. 3. You acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies and in gross breach of the trust that all citizens place in those who work in the medical and caring professions. The babies you harmed were born prematurely and some were at risk of not surviving, but in each case you deliberately harmed them intending to kill them. In your evidence you said that 'hurting a baby is completely against everything that being a nurse is', as, indeed, it should be. You also claimed you never did anything that was meant to hurt a baby and only ever did your best to care for them. That was but one of the many lies you were found to have told in this case. 4. There is no doubt that you are intelligent and, outwardly, were a very conscientious, hard working, knowledgeable, confident and professional nurse, which enabled you repeatedly to harm babies on the unit without arousing suspicion for some time. You prided yourself in your competence. Your fellow neonatal nurses spoke very highly of you, and several of them became your close friends. Having started as a Band 5 nurse at the Countess of Chester in 2012, you became a mentor to student…

Aggravating and mitigating factors

Abuse of trust / Position of power; Planned / Premeditated / Degree of Planning; Vulnerable victim; Mental / Physical suffering / Harm caused; Multiple victims

Around this case

• Manchester Crown Court
• Prosecuted by CPS Mersey-Cheshire
• Investigated by Cheshire Constabulary