Lucy Letby sentenced to whole life in jail as child killer refuses to attend court

Andrew Misra reports on the mounting pressure to force criminals to attend court for sentencing.

Serial child killer Lucy Letby has been told she had "premeditation, calculation and cunning in [her] actions" by a judge sentencing her for the murder of seven newborn babies.

Letby, 33, was sentenced to a whole life order after being found guilty of seven counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder against six babies.

The jury also found the nurse, originally from Hereford, not guilty of two counts of attempted murder, and could not reach verdicts on six other charges.

But Letby, although in the court building, did not appear in the dock to take part in her sentencing hearing, joining a string of offenders who have refused to attend court as their punishment is handed down.

Delivering his sentencing Mr Justice Goss, who said she had a "deep malevolence, bordering on sadism in your actions" said he would sentence as if she was in the dock, and ruled she should be given a copy of his remarks.

Letby will also be sent copies of the victim impact statements read out during her sentencing.

He told her: "The impact of your crimes has been immense, disclosed by the deeply moving personal statements that have been read to the court this morning.

"The lives of newborn or relatively new born babies were ended almost as soon as they began and lifelong harm has been caused, all in horrific circumstances.

"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."

Earlier at Manchester Crown Court, the mother of Child E, who died, and Child F, who survived, gave a victim impact statement where she told the court Lucy Letby's refusal to appear was “just one final act of wickedness from a coward”.

She added of Letby’s time giving evidence: “I would like to thank Lucy for taking the stand and showing the court what she is really like once the ‘nice Lucy’ mask slips.

“It was honestly the best thing she could have done to ensure our boys got the justice they deserve.”

Mr Justice Goss said: "In your evidence you said 'hurting a baby is completely against everything being a nurse is', as it is it should be.

"You claimed you never did anything 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."

He continued: "The methods you employed to carry out your murderous intent were only revealed at a later date.

"There was premeditation, calculation and cunning in your actions.

"You specifically targeted twins and lately triplets.

"The great majority of your victims suffered acute pain as a result of what you did to them, they all fought for survival, some sadly struggled in vain and died."

"You knew the last thing anyone working in the unit was, or did think, was that someone working in the unit would deliberately harm them," he added.

More than a dozen relatives of Letby’s victims sat in the public gallery for the hearing at Manchester Crown Court and eight jurors returned to see the sentencing.

The nurse had previously indicated she did not intend to return to the dock, adding she did not want to take any part in her sentencing hearing, and would not follow the hearing via video-link from prison.

Nicholas Johnson KC, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Court Letby’s offending was a “very, very clear case” for a whole-life tariff to be imposed.

He said the murders qualified on a number of grounds, including that they were premeditated and they involved elements of “sadistic conduct”.

• Lucy Letby arrived at Manchester Crown Court from prison, but refused to attend the sentencing in the court room

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Mr Johnson said there was also more than one victim and those victims were children.

The prosecutor opened his remarks by confirming that the defendant “has refused to come into court”.

Giving her victim impact statement in person, the mother of Child C choked back tears as she told Letby in her absence: “At least now there is no debate that, in your own words, you killed them on purpose. You are evil. You did this.”

She said: “Lucy Letby, to think that you could get any kind of gratification from inflicting pain… and from watching our suffering in the aftermath goes against everything I believe it is to be human.

“I am horrified that someone so evil exists. To you, our son’s life was collateral damage in your persistent desire for drama, attention, praise and sympathy.”

The refusal of criminals to “face the music” in court was described by a source close to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk as the “final insult” to victims and their families, as they confirmed the Government is “committed” to changing the law as soon as possible.

Letby was in the courtroom on 8 August when the jury returned its first two guilty verdicts of attempted murder, and then again on 11 August when she was convicted of four murders and another two attempted murders.

However, at the end of the court day on 11 August Letby did not return to the dock as the jury was sent home for the weekend.

Letby returned to court the following week but made her last appearance in Court Seven on the morning of 16 August when trial judge Mr Justice Goss sent the jury out to continue its deliberations.

More verdicts were returned later that day, in her absence, and again on 17 August when the court heard Letby had indicated to her legal team she did not intend to return to the dock.

Letby continued to be produced at court from prison but would not come up from the cells.

Her parents, John and Sue, who had previously attended the trial every day, did not come to court on Friday as the trial ended.

The reasons for her non-attendance were not disclosed by the judge.

Mr Justice Goss said after the verdicts were returned: “The sentencing hearing will of course take place whether she is present or not.

“The court has no power to force a defendant to attend at a sentencing hearing, therefore there is nothing I can do in relation to that.”

Rishi Sunak said Lucy Letby was "cowardly" for refusing to appear in court for her sentencing.

The Prime Minister said: "The first thing is to extend my sympathies to everyone affected by this. I think, like everyone reading about this, it's just shocking and harrowing.

"Now I think it's cowardly that people who commit such horrendous crimes do not face their victims and hear first hand the impact that their crimes have had on them and their families and loved ones."

He said the Government is looking at changing the law to ensure that defendants appear in court for sentencing.

Earlier this year, Mr Chalk said the Government is “committed” to changing the law so criminals are compelled to attend their sentencing hearings.

It came after his predecessor, Dominic Raab, promised to act while under pressure over the non-attendance of the killers of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Zara Aleena and Sabina Nessa to stop offenders convicted of the most serious crimes dodging court and avoiding facing justice.

Thomas Cashman was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years for fatally shooting nine-year-old Olivia at her home in Dovecot, Liverpool, while pursuing a fellow drug dealer.

Sex attacker Jordan McSweeney murdered 35-year-old law graduate Ms Aleena as she walked home in Ilford, east London, and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 38 years.

Koci Selamaj received life with at least 36 years for murdering primary school teacher Ms Nessa after travelling to London to carry out an attack on a random woman.

Each refused to appear in court for sentencing, with their punishments being handed down in their absence.

Olivia’s mother Cheryl Korbel called for the law to be changed to make sure criminals are in court for sentencing, saying Cashman’s absence was “like a kick in the teeth”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously refused to say if the proposed legislation would be introduced before the next general election, which is anticipated to take place next year.

Judges have powers to order defendants to come to court prior to verdicts being delivered. If they fail to obey, they can be found in contempt of court and face up to two years in prison – but the law does not extend to sentencing hearings.

Mr Chalk is also yet to confirm when the proposals would be introduced to Parliament despite calls from Labour to act “urgently”, while campaigners have pressed ministers to put forward plans before the end of the current parliamentary session in the autumn.

Speaking at Commons justice questions in June, Mr Chalk said: “We are committed to bringing forward legislation to enable offenders to be compelled to attend their sentencing hearings.”

He said offenders whose crimes “shatter families” should be required to “face the consequences of their actions and hear society’s condemnation expressed through the sentencing remarks of the judge”.

The Justice Secretary said he wants to know that when offenders are “sitting in the cells trying to get to sleep” that “ringing in their ears are those words of condemnation from the judge, because there are victims who find it hard ever to recover; why should that defendant ever have to sleep soundly in their bed?”.

It is understood that there are plans for the legislation to be put forward later this year or in early 2024, as soon as parliamentary time allows.

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