Jurors as well as judges deserve counselling
The worst child serial killer in modern British history will be sentenced today. After a ten-month trial, 33 year-old Lucy Letby, a former neonatal nurse, was found guilty last Friday of murdering seven babies and trying to kill another six at the Countess of Chester hospital. The Guardian reports that police fear Letby could have harmed another 30 infants. Cheshire Constabulary has requested experts look into the medical records of over 4,000 babies born at Liverpool Women’s hospital and the Countess of Chester between 2012 and 2015 for other suspicious incidents. Letby’s crimes could also be under the scrutiny of a judge-led statutory inquiry, after concerns have been expressed by Steve Brine, Conservative chair of the health select committee, that the current non-statutory inquiry could “disappear down a rabbit hole”. Calls have also been made to change the laws on whether defendants could be forced to attend their sentencing hearings physically, after Letby indicated she would not attend hers today. As she has refused to appear in the dock, Letby will not have to listen to the victim’s impact statements. Letby could become the fourth woman to be handed a whole-life order, meaning she will never be released from prison.
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