'Cruel, Calculated And Cynical Campaign': UK Nurse Who Killed 7 Newborns Jailed For Life

Lucy Letby was convicted for killing seven babies and attempt to kill six other infants.

A 33-year-old nurse in the United Kingdom was sentenced for whole- life on Monday after she was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempted to kill six other infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital. She deliberately injected babies with air, force fed others milk and poisoned two of the infants with insulin, as per a BBC report. After receiving today’s sentence, during the hearing of which she was not present, Letby became only the fourth woman in the history of the UK to receive such punishment. 

While delivering the verdict, Justice Goss said the "cruelty and calculation" of Letby's actions were "truly horrific".

"You acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies and in gross breach of the trust that all citizens place in those who work in the medical and caring professions," he said.

Letby has been on trial since last October and has been accused of causing harm to her young victims, who were either sick or born prematurely. In a search of Lucy Letby's home, the police found paperwork from the hospital and a note that she had written by hand reading: "I am evil, I did this."

She was taken into custody after several babies died at the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England from June 2015 to June 2016.

The prosecution said Lucy Letby was very clever and used ways to kill that were hard to detect. Lucy Letby had repetitively denied hurting the children.

Lucy Letby's last victims were two triplet boys, who were called babies O and P during the court proceedings.

Child O died soon after Lucy Letby came back from a vacation in Ibiza in June 2016. Child P passed away one day after their brother or sister. Lucy Letby allegedly tried to kill the third triplet, child Q, but the jury could not agree on whether she was guilty or not.

The whole-life sentence is the most severe punishment given to a convict under the country’s criminal justice system and is reserved for those who commit the most heinous crimes, stated BBC.