Lucy Letby news – latest: Killer nurse to be stripped of NHS pension after baby murders

The jury heard harrowing evidence from the parents, and doctors and nurses left traumatised by the suffering inflicted by Lucy Letby, writes Nigel Bunyan.

Nurse Lucy Letby, the most prolific child serial killer in modern British history, will die in prison after being sentenced to a whole-life order.

Judge Mr Justice Goss handed the baby murderer the rare sentence, which is life imprisonment with no possibility of release, at Manchester Crown Court on Monday. It comes after the serial killer nurse cemented herself as one of Britain’s worst criminals on Friday when she was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others.

Following a nine-month trial and over three weeks of deliberations, a jury found her guilty of 14 of the 22 counts she faced, after she embarked on a campaign of horror at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

While it has not been confirmed, Letby could be placed in HMP Low Newton, a maximum security prison that is home to many of the deadliest female killers in recent history.

The jail, which was opened in 1965, has housed Britain’s youngest female murderer Sharon Carr, as well as Baby P’s mother Tracey Connelly. Dubbed ‘‘The Devil’s Daughter’’, Carr murdered an 18-year-old woman after picking her out at random when she was just 12 years old.

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Parents of babies attacked by 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.

Eleanor Barlow reports:

A fundraiser to appeal the killer nurse’s guilty verdict? Friends saying they don’t believe she did it? Naive, stupid, biased, blinkered? Not necessarily, says Dr Jessica Taylor. Standing by loved ones who have done horrific things is more common than you think…

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”.

Matt Mathers reports:

Nurse Lucy Letby has been found guilty of murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital in a rare case that has shocked the nation.

An independent inquiry has been set up to understand how Letby was able to carry out the killings and attempt six others before being reported to the police.

The reasons why Letby, a neonatal nurse, committed the murders may never be fully understood, although prosecutors and other experts told jurors during her trial of several possible motivations.

The Independent takes a look at some of the main theories discussed in court.

Matt Mathers reports: