Lucy Letby news – latest: Killer nurse to be stripped of NHS pension after baby murders
Warning: distressing content. Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six more
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Lucy Letby is set to be stripped of her NHS pension after her murderous rampage on the neonatal ward where she worked.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay is looking into all measures that prevent her pension from being paid to her, The Independent understands.
The NHS Pension Scheme Regulations allow him to forfeit pensions if NHS employees are convicted of crimes – particularly those that are “gravely injurious to the state or to be liable to lead to serious loss of confidence in the public service”.
Letby will spend the rest of her life in prison after being found guilty of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder six others, but she refused to appear in the dock to hear the sentence handed down on Monday.
It sparked widespread outrage with several British newspapers calling for a law change, arguing that the worst offenders “should be forced to appear in court to witness the impact of their crimes”.
Judge Mr Justice Goss said Letby would be sent written copies of the victim impact statements.
Watch: Mother recalls moment she found Lucy Letby standing over newborn baby’s cot
The harrowing family victim statements killer nurse Lucy Letby refused to hear
The families of serial killer Lucy Letby’s victims branded the nurse “evil” as they gave emotional victim impact statements during her sentencing.
The 33-year-old did not appear in the dock at Manchester Crown Court on Monday as she was given a whole-life order after being convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six more.
But the judge, Mr Justice Goss, ordered that she be sent a transcript of his sentencing remarks and copies of the statements read out by the families of her victims.
Here is what each family said in full:
Read devastating accounts of Letby victims’ families after she refused to hear them
Warning; distressing content: Parents of babies whom Lucy Letby murdered or attempted to kill spoke of their grief in emotional victim impact statements at her sentencing hearing
‘Killing addiction’: Criminologists on why ‘nice’ nurse Lucy Letby became baby murderer
Cconvicted of murdering seven infants and attempting to kill six others, Lucy Letby has become the most prolific child serial killer in modern British history.
But despite being sentenced to a whole life order, questions linger about what led the 33 year-old to commit such appalling crimes.
While her reasons may never be fully understood, prosecutors and other experts told jurors during her trial of several possible motivations.
Criminal psychologists have now given their own verdicts, describing the case as “extremely rare and unusual” and arguing that Letby “broke all the rules” normally applied to serial killers.
Tara Cobham reports:
‘Killing addiction’: Criminologists on why ‘nice’ Lucy Letby became baby murderer
Horrified families left asking what drove Letby to commit her appalling crimes as 33 year-old jailed for the rest of her life, Tara Cobham writes
Parents of Letby victims accuse former hospital director of ‘total fob off’
Parents of babies attacked Lucy Letby received a “total fob off” from a hospital medical director after raising concerns, a lawyer representing them has said.
Ian Harvey was medical director at the Countess of Chester Hospital at the time the 33-year-old nurse carried out her crimes, murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others, but he retired in August 2018, a month after she was first arrested.
Richard Scorer, from law firm Slater and Gordon which is representing two of the families, accused Mr Harvey of a “shameful” failure to address parental concerns.
Mr Scorer said: “Our clients received a series of anodyne letters from Harvey containing no proper explanation or clarification.
“The letters invited them to contact Harvey for more explanation and they tried to contact him repeatedly, but despite many attempts to get through to him they never received a return call.
“Our clients have described his response as a ‘total fob off’.
“It seems that Harvey had little interest in passing any meaningful information to the parents, responding properly to any of their concerns, or complying with any duty of candour to them.
“In our view this failure to address parental concerns was shameful and another matter which needs to be investigated by a statutory inquiry with the power to compel witnesses and the production of documents.”
Letby murders: Why there is a push for inquiry to be upgraded from non-statutory
The crimes of child serial killer Lucy Letby will be examined in a public inquiry.
The Government ordered a probe after the nurse was last week found guilty of murdering seven babies and trying to murder six more.
It will investigate the events on the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit between 2015 and 2016 to ensure “vital lessons are learned”, ministers said.
But concerns have been raised over the decision not to put the probe on a statutory footing, with pressure growing on the Government to strengthen it.
Letby murders: Why there is a push for inquiry to be upgraded from non-statutory
The Government is under mounting pressure to upgrade the public probe, which it ordered last week on a non-statutory basis.
Mother recalls moment she found Lucy Letby standing over newborn’s cot seconds before ‘all hell broke loose’
A mother has spoken of the moment she found killer nurse Lucy Letby standing over her newborn’s cot just seconds before “all hell broke loose”.
Vicky Whitfield and husband Mike, believe their daughter Felicity, could be one of Letby’s first victims after she spent time in the neonatal ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2013.
Vicky said: “As I was walking towards the cot, Lucy was standing over it. She just looked up at me and walked away. I sat down and within seconds beepers started going off and all hell broke loose.”
Felicity suffered a collapsed lung but thankfully survived.
Mum on moment she found Lucy Letby standing over baby’s cot as ‘all hell broke loose’
A mother has spoken of the moment she found killer nurse Lucy Letby standing over her newborn’s cot just seconds before “all hell broke loose”. Vicky Whitfield and husband Mike, believe their daughter Felicity, could be one of Letby’s first victims. Vicky said it was her “mother’s instinct” which made her go and check on Felicity at 3am one morning while on the neonatal ward at the Countess of Chester hospital in 2013. She said: “As I was walking towards the cot, Lucy was standing over it. She just looked up at me and walked away. I sat down and within seconds beepers started going off and all hell broke loose.” Felicity suffered a collapsed lung but thankfully survived.
Former home secretary says some witnesses ‘won’t be bothered about being shamed'
Former home secretary Jack Straw has said some witnesses in the Lucy Letby inquiry “won’t be bothered about being shamed” for not attending unless the probe is put on a statutory footing.
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “You can shame a lot of (witnesses) but you can’t shame them all, and there may be witnesses in the Letby case who really ought to be on the stand, who are the most vulnerable in terms of the positions they have taken, and who won’t be bothered about being shamed - they would rather be shamed for their absence than actually appear on the stand.
“Being able to compel a witness is really very, very important.
“There isn’t really any direct connection between whether an inquiry is judicially led with full powers and whether it is speedy.”
Exclusive: Lucy Letby still paid by hospital for years after baby murders
Serial killer nurse Lucy Letby was still being paid her NHS salary years after her murderous rampage ended, The Independent can reveal.
Britain’s most prolific child killer, who is serving a whole-life sentence for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six more between 2015 and 2016, continued to be paid until she was charged with the horrific crimes in 2020.
That meant she was still receiving her salary from the Countess of Chester Hospital four years after she killed the last child and two years after she was first arrested.
As a “band 5” nurse Letby, 33, would have been earning between £28,406 to £34,581.
Lucy Letby still paid by hospital for years after baby murders
Exclusive: Serial killer nurse, who murdered seven babies and tried to kill six more, is also set to be stripped of her NHS pension
Lucy Letby used ‘code’ in diaries that helped detectives crack case
Detectives investigating serial killer nurse Lucy Letby say they were “surprised” by the amount of material they found at her home and that a “coded system” in her diaries helped officers uncover key evidence.
Letby, one of the most prolific child killers in modern British history, has been jailed for life for murdering seven newborn babies and trying to kill six more between June 2015 and June 2016 in the neonatal ward at the Count of Chester Hospital where she worked.
The 33-year-old, only the fourth woman in UK history told she will never be released from prison, deliberately injected infants with air, force-fed them with milk or poisoned them with insulin during a “cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder”.
Lucy Letby used ‘code’ in diaries that helped detectives crack case
Lucy Letby, one of the most prolific child killers in modern British history, has been jailed for life
Former victims’ commissioner joins calls for inquiry
Former victims’ commissioner Dame Vera Baird has joined growing calls for the inquiry into serial killer nurse Lucy Letby to be given powers to compel witnesses to attend and give evidence.
The government announced a probe on Friday after Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of six others.
But it was not put on a statutory footing, meaning witnesses will not be required by law to attend, raising concerns that hospital managers could avoid being held accountable for putting reputation before child safety.
The grieving families of Letby’s victims have demanded the government orders a full independent public inquiry into how the nurse was able to go on a prolonged killing spree at the neonatal ward.
Baird, who served as the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales from June 2019 to September 2022, told the Independent that the inquiry “must” be given statutory. She also called for a “radical change of attitude” towards the victims.
Ministers initially said the decision to hold a non-statutory inquiry into the case was the right one because it would be more flexible and allow the victims’ families to get justice more quickly.
But No 10 has since indicated that the probe could be upgraded after the government came under pressure to give it more powers to compel witnesses.
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