Lucy Letby sentence: serial killer nurse who murdered seven babies sentenced to life in prison

The UK's most prolific child serial killer in modern history, Lucy Letby, will not see the outside of a jail cell after the nurse was sentenced to a whole life order on Monday (August 21).

Judge Mr Justice Goss handed the harshest sentence possible in the UK's justice system which means the 33-year-old will die in prison. There is no possibility of release.

She was found guilty last week of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six further infants in her care at Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit between 2015 and 2016. Letby was not in attendance at her sentencing hearing at Manchester Crown Court.

The court heard how Letby would deliberately inject newborn children with air, force-feed them with milk or poison them with insulin.

Judge Goss explained how "there was premeditation, calculation and cunning in your actions" and that Lucy Letby "relished" working in an intensive care unit, taking an interest in "uncommon" complications and targeting twins and triplets.

Before passing the sentence, he said: "Over a period of 13 months, you killed seven fragile babies and attempted to kill six others. Some of your victims were only a day, or a few days old. All were extremely vulnerable."

"This was a cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder involving the smallest and most vulnerable children, knowing your actions were causing significant physical suffering. There was a malevolence bordering on sadism in your actions.

The judge continued: "During the course of this trial you have coldly denied any responsibility for your wrongdoing. You have no remorse. There are no mitigating factors. In their totality, the offences of murder and attempted murder are of exceptionally high seriousness, and just punishment, according to law, requires a whole life order."

Cheshire Police are still investigating over 4,000 cases of babies admitted to Countess of Cheshire Hospital, as well as at Liverpool Women's Hospital where Letby had two work placements during her employment from 2012.