Lucy Letby: The heartbreaking statements of her victim's families

The anguished families of killer nurse Lucy Letby’s tiny victims told her "you are nothing" and that they hope she will "spend every single day suffering for what you have done".

Statements from the parents of the seven babies Letby, 33, murdered and the six she attempted to kill, were read in court - some in person - revealing the impact of the nurse's actions.

But the most prolific child serial killer in modern British history refused to appear in court and was not there to hear the emotional testimonies from the parents.

As a result Letby will now be sent copies of the victim impact statements read out during her sentencing, as well as the judge's sentencing remarks.

Choking back tears, the mother of Baby C, who was murdered after Letby forced air into his stomach, told the killer in her absence: "Our son’s life was collateral damage in your persistent desire for drama, attention, praise and sympathy."

She continued: “At least now there is no debate that, in your own words, you killed them on purpose. You are evil. You did this.”

Taking to the witness box, the mother of Baby D told the court Letby's "wicked sense of entitlement and abuse of her role as a trusted nurse" was a scandal.

She added: "Lucy Letby had a chance to say something to us all, parents of the victims, and she had only one word - 'unimaginable'.

"My heart broke into million pieces the second Baby D lost her battle against Evil and that is when Hell broke loose for us.

"Those lives were not yours to take and although I am torn with sadness, anger and unanswered questions... I cannot forgive you. There is no forgiving, not now, not ever."

The mother of Baby E, who died, and Baby F, who survived, told the court the nurse’s refusal to appear was “just one final act of wickedness from a coward”.

She told the court: “Even in these final days of the trial she has tried to control things, the disrespect she has shown the families and the court show what type of person she is.

“We have attended court day in and day out, yet she decides she has had enough, and stays in her cell, 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.”

The woman said her son who survived has been diagnosed with severe learning difficulties “which we believe is a result of being poisoned with a large quantity of insulin”.

She said: “I never allow him to be alone with medical professionals.”

In a statement read to court by the prosecution, the mother of Baby A, a twin boy who was murdered by Letby, and Baby B, whom she attempted to kill, told the nurse: "You thought it was your right to play god with our children’s lives."

In the statement, made on behalf of her and her partner, she said: “Maybe you thought by doing this you would be remembered forever but I want you to know my family will never think of you again.

“From this day you are nothing.”

Another statement, from the mother of Baby I, said her, and her partner, were "both absolutely broken that someone could do something so evil to our precious little girl".

She added: “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 father of Baby G, who Letby was found guilty of attempting to murder twice, said his daughter, who now has brain damage, was registered blind, and is fed through a tube, was 'found by the devil'.

He said: “Every day I would sit there and pray. I would pray for God to save her. He did. He saved her, but the devil found her.”

What did the parents say?

• Mother of Babies A and B

Letby was found guilty of the murder of Baby A after injecting air intravenously into the baby boy’s bloodstream.

Baby B, the twin sister of Baby A, also had air injected into her bloodstream by Letby. The nurse was convicted of her attempted murder.

The mother said: “We never got to hold our little boy while he was alive because you took him away.

“Our minds are traumatised that it won’t let us remember most of the night where you killed our child.

“What should have been the happiest time of our lives had become our worst nightmare.

"You thought it was your right to play God with our children's lives."

"Little did we know you were waiting for us to leave so you could attack the one thing that gave us a reason to carry on in life.

"Maybe you thought by doing this you would be remembered forever but I want you to know my family will never think of you again.

"From this day you are nothing."

• Mother of Baby C

Letby was found guilty of murdering Child C by forcing air down a feeding tube and into the baby boy’s stomach.

Child C’s mother choked back tears as she said: “Our two sets of parents held him for the first and only time in the hours that he lay dying.

“It was a pain for us all that was just too hard to bear. The trauma of that night will live with all of us until the day we die.

“Knowing now that his murderer was watching us throughout these traumatic hours is like something out of a horror story.

"I'm horrified someone so evil exists.

“To you, our son's life was collateral damage in your persistent desire for drama, attention, praise and sympathy.

“But at least now there is no debate - that, in your own words, you killed them onpurpose. You are evil. You did this.”

• Mother of Baby D

Letby was found convicted of the murder of Child D after air was injected intravenously into the baby girl.

The mother of Baby D told the court: “My heart broke in a million pieces. Their lives weren’t yours to take. I can’t forgive you, there is no forgoing, not now, not ever.

“We had to organise her funeral, the service took place the day before her due date. Her ashes were buried in a tiny box on her actual due date.

“Now the why... and never knowing will keep this wound forever opened.”

• Mother of Babies E and F

Letby murdered Baby E with an injection of air into his bloodstream and also deliberately caused bleeding to the baby boy.

The nurse was convicted of attempting to murder Baby E’s twin brother, Baby F, with insulin.

Their mother told Manchester Crown Court: “He was buried in that gown, a gift from the unit chosen by Lucy.

"I feel sickened by the choice we made. Not a single day passes without distress over this decision.

“We had experienced failed IVF attempts, with the conclusion that I would never be able to conceive.

“Lucy was aware of our journey and deliberately caused significant harm and cruelty to our boys. No children in this world were more wanted and loved than them.

“Lucy presented herself as kind, caring, and soft-spoken. Now I know it was all an act, a sadistic abuse of power that has left me unable to trust anyone.

“Nothing can change what has happened to us. We are living with a life sentence because of Lucy's crimes.

“Lucy is right she killed them on purpose because she was not good enough to care for them.

"She has preyed on vulnerable babies, who couldn’t stop her, its cowardly and sickening, and I feel like my boys were just a pawn in her sick twisted game.

“We have attended court day in and day out, yet she decides she has had enough, and stays in her cell, just one final act of wickedness from a coward.

“We have been living a nightmare, but for me, it ends today. I refuse to wake up with my first thought be about my boys being harmed.

“Lucy no longer has control over our lives. She holds no power or relevance in anybody's life. She is nothing.”

• Father of Baby G

The Crown said Letby targeted Baby G by overfeeding the baby girl with milk and pushing air down her feeding tube.

Her father said his baby girl had been born prematurely and the start of her life was a “bumpy road”.

He said their child now has brain damage, is registered blind, and is fed through a tube.

Speaking about receiving the call to say someone was arrested, he said: “I just didn’t expect that. I just want it to be over now.”

• Mother of Baby I

Letby was convicted of murdering Baby I at the fourth attempt. She had given the baby girl air and overfed her with milk.

In a statement read to Manchester Crown Court, Child I’s mother said:“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.

“When they handed her to us we never wanted to let her go, we held her so tight she was our gorgeous little princess and I can't even begin to explain the pain. When we lost her a part of us died with her.

“We struggle with trust I wont leave my kids in a hospital we will never give any one that type of trust with our kids again.”

She outlined the huge impact the death of her daughter has had on her and her husband.

“We were both absolutely broken that someone could do something so evil to our precious little girl and this has had a massive effect on our family even until this day,” she said.

“We dug for years, trying to get answers for what had happened, and over the years we have been in some very dark places mentally.”

• Father of Babies L and M

The Crown said Letby poisoned Baby L with insulin, and the nurse was found guilty of attempting to murder the baby boy.

Letby was also convicted of the attempted murder of Baby M, Baby L’s twin brother, after injecting air into his bloodstream.

In a statement read to the court, the babies’ father said the nurse looked at him as he sat in court.

He said: “There was a day when I was at the trial and the public gallery was full and I was sat in Lucy Letby’s line of view and she kept looking over at me.

“That made me feel quite uncomfortable and uneasy and I had to move in the afternoon so I was out of her view.”

He said the image of his son collapsing was “forever etched” in his mind and the stress and strain had been unbearable at times.

He said: “Initially doctors told us that the whole events that took place in 2016 surrounding my children was normal for premature babies and we believed what the doctors were telling us at the time.

"Little did we know that a year or so after their birth the police would come knocking on the door and break the news that this could be an attempted murder case.”

He said he had been prescribed anti-depressants but said: “Even though they have helped they can never take away the feelings I have as a parent knowing now what had truly happened at the Countess of Chester in 2016 and it doesn’t make it any easier to cope with over time.”

• Mother of Baby N

The Crown said Letby inflicted trauma on Child N’s throat and also injected air into the baby boy’s bloodstream.

She was convicted of one count of attempted murder but the jury was unable to reach a verdict on two more counts of the same charge.

The mother of Child N said she always knew her son had been deliberately harmed, and described how she felt after her son collapsed.

"We have often heard of people dying from a broken heart," she said. "This is how we can describe how we felt that day the pain was immeasurable and we didn't want to leave that hospital without our son.

"We both relive this every day because not a day goes by without thinking about that day."

The mother added she felt “happy and relieved” when the police got in contact to say they were investigating Letby because “we felt like we were being listened to”.

“Finally we would receive some answers,” she said.

She said: “We just questioned why a healthy baby boy was fine one minute and bleeding from the mouth and needing CPR the next.”

The woman outlined the impact on her family “all because of the evil actions of someone else”.

She said: “Our trust in people in a position of trust has been completely broken.”

• Father of Babies O and P

Letby was found guilty of murdering Child O. Prosecutors said she attacked the boy triplet by injecting him with air, overfeeding him with milk and inflicting trauma to his liver with “severe force”.

The nurse was also convicted of murdering Child P, Child O’s triplet brother, by overfeeding him with milk, injecting air and dislodging his breathing tube.

In a pre-recorded statement played to the court, the father of triplets, two of whom were murdered by Letby, said: “He received a blessing from the priest and was quickly christened, moments later, he was gone.

“I felt like I’d been stabbed in the heart, no words could describe how I was feeling. I kept wishing it had happened to me and at that time would have gladly taken his place.

“We have tried to explain to our children that there’s a lady in prison and that the police think that this lady has hurt your brothers, we did this in case they hear anything from a third party or at school.

“Lucy Letby has destroyed our lives. The anger and the hatred I have towards her will never go away.

"It has destroyed me as a man and as a father. I have missed over six years of ourchildren’s lives because of her actions.”

Their mother added: “I hate that Lucy Letby was the last person to hold him. She’s ruined our lives."

She described being in a “state of shock” and said she continued to be haunted by “vivid images” from the time and lived in “constant fear” of anything happening to her children.

Speaking about the trial, she said: “Being within the courtroom environment was extremely harrowing. That was the first time I had seen Lucy Letby since 2016.”

She said she sat behind a monitor so she was not in a direct line of sight and found the evidence difficult to listen to.

She added: “Having to come to terms with the police investigation has made the past few years unbearable.”