00:00 there was a deep malevolence bordering on sadism in your actions.
00:06 During the course of this trial, you have coldly denied any responsibility for your
00:11 wrongdoing and sought to attribute some fault to others. You have no remorse. There are
00:18 no mitigating factors. In their totality, the offences of murder and attempted murder
00:26 were of exceptionally high seriousness, and just punishment, according to law, requires
00:34 a whole life order. Lucy Letby, on each of the seven offences of murder and the seven
00:43 offences of attempted murder, I sentence you to imprisonment for life. Because the seriousness
00:50 of your offences is exceptionally high, I direct that the early release provisions do
00:56 not apply. The order of the court, therefore, is a whole life order on each and every offence,
01:06 and you will spend the rest of your life in prison.
01:08 Lucy Letby was entrusted to protect some of the most vulnerable babies. Little did those
01:28 working alongside her know that there was a murderer in their midst. She did her utmost
01:35 to conceal her crimes by varying the ways in which she repeatedly harmed babies in her
01:41 care. She sought to deceive her colleagues and pass off the harm she caused as nothing
01:49 more than a worsening of each baby's existing vulnerability. In her hands, innocuous substances
01:58 like air, milk, or medication like insulin would become lethal. She perverted her learning
02:06 and weaponised her craft to inflict harm, grief, and death. Time and again, she harmed
02:14 babies in an environment which should have been safe for them and their families. Parents
02:22 were exposed to her morbid curiosity and her fake compassion. Too many of them returned
02:29 home to empty baby rooms. Many surviving children live with permanent consequences of her assault
02:37 upon their lives. Her attacks were a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her. My thoughts
02:47 are with families of the victims who may never have closure but who now have answers to questions
02:55 which had troubled them for years. I've been asked to read out a statement on behalf of
02:59 all the families in this case. Words cannot effectively explain how we are feeling at
03:05 this moment in time. We are quite simply stunned. To lose a baby is a heartbreaking experience
03:12 that no parent should ever have to go through. But to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed
03:18 in these particular circumstances is unimaginable. Over the past seven to eight years, we've
03:25 had to go through a long, torturous, and emotional journey. From losing our precious newborns
03:31 and grieving their loss, seeing our children who survived, some of whom are still suffering
03:37 today, to being told years later that their death or collapse might be suspicious. Nothing
03:44 can prepare you for that news. Today, justice has been served and a nurse who should have
03:49 been caring for our babies has been found guilty of harming them. But this justice will
03:55 not take away from the extreme hurt, anger, and distress that we've all had to experience.
04:03 Some families did not receive the verdict that they expected and therefore it is a bittersweet
04:08 result. We are heartbroken, devastated, angry, and feel numb. We may never truly know why
04:15 this happened.
04:15 I'm going to go grab myself a lunch.
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