Killer Nurse Lucy Letby To Face Sentencing For Murder Of 7 Babies

Nurse Lucy Letby who was found guilty for the murder of 7 babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, will not attend her sentence hearing, according to reports.

The 33 year old nurse was found guilty of the attempted murder of 6 other babies at the hospital, in a trial which lasted more than 10 months, making it the longest murder trial in the UK.

The guilty verdicts were announced on August 8 and August 11, after a trial where we heard how Lucy Letby deliberately injected babies with air, forced fed milk to others, along with poisoning two other infants, in the period between June 2015 and June 2016.

While these guilty verdicts were being read out, they could not be reported until all verdicts were returned.

The nurse was described by prosecutors at the trial as a "calculating and devious" opportunist, who "gaslighted" her colleagues, in order to cover up her "murderous assaults".

However, Lucy Letby was found not guilty on two further attempted murder charges, while the jury remain undecided on murder charges, regarding four other babies. 

Ahead of her sentencing, we understand that Lucy Letby will not attend the hearing, with her legal team stating that she does not want to follow proceedings from a prison videolink. Her reasons for not attending have yet to be confirmed.

Ms Letby also refused to attend court last week, which as led to fresh calls for a law change, compelling convicted criminals to attend their sentence hearings.

The nurse was convicted after a two year investigation by Chester Police into an unexplained rise in the deaths of babies, or near fatal collapses of infants at the hospital, with the UK Government also launching an independent enquiry in the circumstances beyond the infant murders.

Families of the victims have also thanked the jurors, saying that they will "forever be grateful" to them, as they sat through 145 days of "gruelling" evidence at the trial.