August 21st 2023.
Today, serial killer nurse Lucy Letby has been given a whole-life order by the courts, becoming the fourth British woman to be given such an order.
Letby, 33, was found guilty of 14 heinous crimes against the newborn babies in her care, including the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others. She even tried to kill one of the newborns twice.
At Manchester Crown Court, Letby refused to attend her sentencing, which was carried out by Judge Mr Justice Goss. He made it clear that Letby will never be released back into society, as she had ‘coldly denied any responsibility’ for her crimes. He said, ‘You will spend the rest of your life in prison.’
A whole-life order, or ‘life means life’ tariff, means an offender will never be released from prison, other than in ‘exceptional compassionate circumstances’. Mr Justice Goss imposed whole-life orders for ‘each and every’ offence Letby committed.
Letby joins a list of notorious British women who have also been given whole-life orders, including Moors murderer Myra Hindley, Rose West, and Joanna Dennehy.
Hindley was the first woman to be given a whole-life sentence, in 1990, for the murders of two young people, with her lover Ian Brady.
West and her husband Fred committed a 20-year spree of rape, torture, and murder of at least 12 women and girls. Dennehy was convicted of murdering three men and the attempted murders of two others.
Letby will now spend the rest of her life in prison for her ‘cruel, calculated’ baby murders. A senior NHS manager who worked at the hospital where Letby worked has also been suspended.
It is a shocking reminder of the power of a whole-life order, as around 70 offenders in the UK prison estate are now serving the orders, which were introduced in 1988.
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