British baby killer Lucy Letby gets life in prison for death of 7 infants

Baby-killing nurse Lucy Letby will spend the rest of her life in prison.

The British caretaker responsible for murdering seven infants and attempting to kill another six didn’t attend her Monday sentencing hearing, according to the BBC. The Manchester judge who ordered Letby to a life-sentence without parole for her “cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder” made the 33-year-old killer the fourth woman in England ever given such a penalty.

Great Britain’s Secretary of State for Justice Alex Chalk joined an attorney representing the victims’ families in criticizing Letby for skipping Monday’s proceedings.

“Lucy Letby is not just a murderer but a coward, whose failure to face her victims’ families, refusing to hear their impact statements and society’s condemnation, is the final insult,” Chalk said.

He suggested laws might be changed to require criminals to attend future sentencing hearings. Lawyer Tamlin Bolton told the BBC Letby’s absence spoke to an indifference toward her victims and the legal system.

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“I imagine many of the families, not only those that we represent, all feel extremely angry she didn’t attend today,” she said.

She too called Letby’s decision “the final insult.”

Letby was convicted Friday following 22 days of jury deliberation. She murdered seven babies left to her care between 2015 and 2016 by various means, including force-feeding and injecting them with air. She attempted to kill six other children — some of whom were rendered disabled, according to their parents.

Letby cried loudly last week when she was convicted on two counts of attempted murder prior to Friday’s sweeping verdicts, according to the Guardian. Her lawyer told the court after the earlier verdicts that his client wouldn’t attend further proceedings.

In a joint statement read outside the Manchester courthouse Friday, victims’ families thanked jurors for enduring 145 days of “extremely harrowing and distressing” testimony and evidence.

Letby’s motive for harming 13 children while working in the neonatal unit at northwest England’s Countess of Chester Hospital remains unknown. Authorities reported finding a note reading “I am evil” during a search of her home.

With News Wire Services