‘I’m horrified that someone so evil exists’: Heartbroken parents blame themselves as baby killer Letby is sentenced

21 August 2023, 11:33 | Updated: 21 August 2023, 12:08

The parents of Lucy Letby’s victims have revealed the "guilt" they’ve been left with as they deliver their heartbreaking victim statements.

Speaking in court on Monday, the parents of the seven babies Letby was found guilty of murdering and the six she attempted to murder have told the court at her sentencing how their lives have been affected by the “evil” nurse.

Choking back tears, the mother of Child C opened her statement: "Lucy Letby, to think that you could get any kind of gratification from inflicting pain... and from watching our suffering in the aftermath goes against everything I believe it is to be human.

"I am horrified that someone so evil exists. To you, our son's life was collateral damage in your persistent desire for drama, attention, praise and sympathy."

She went onto reveal how she had started to blame herself for Letby’s actions in the emotional statement.

“I blame myself entirely for his death,” she said. “I still live with the guilt that I couldn't protect him during pregnancy or in his short life.

“Knowing now that his murderer was watching us throughout these traumatic hours is like something out of a horror story.”

Letby did not appear in the dock as the families of her victims delivered their statements at Manchester Crown Court on Monday.

The victims are referred to as Baby/Child A to Q to protect their anonymity.

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The mother of Child I said: "I don't think we will ever get over the fact that our daughter was tortured till she had no fight left in her and everything she went through over her short life was deliberately done by someone who was supposed to protect her and help her come home where she belonged." 

She outlined the huge impact the death of her daughter has had on her and her husband.

"We were both absolutely broken that someone could do something so evil to our precious little girl and this has had a massive effect on our family even until this day," she said. 

"We dug for years trying to get answers for what had happened and over the years we have been in some very dark places mentally."

She said: "(Her husband) wished he was dead, he wished it was him that died and not Child I."

"When they handed Child I to us we never wanted to let her go, we held her so tight she was our gorgeous little princess and I cant even begin to explain the pain. When we lost her a part of us died with her."

The mother of Child A, who was murdered by Letby, and Child B, who she attempted to kill, said in her victim statement: "You thought it was your right to play God with our children's lives."

She said after the death of Child A, they made sure a member of family was always with Child B, but claimed they “made a mistake” because they then started to believe what had happened to their first child was a “tragic event that couldn’t be stopped”.

Speaking on behalf of her and her partner, she continued: “Little did we know you were waiting for us to leave so you could attack the one thing that gave us a reason to carry on in life.

“Maybe you thought by doing this you would be remembered forever but I want you to know my family will never think of you again.

"From this day you are nothing."

Letby murdered seven babies and tried to kill six more while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit between 2015-2016.

The 33-year-old could be handed a whole-life order by judge Mr Justice Goss at Manchester Crown Court.

Whole-life orders are the most severe punishment available in the UK criminal justice system, used only for those who commit the most serious crimes.

Despite mounting calls for Letby to be forced to attend her sentencing today, she refused to face the families of her victims.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak labelled Letby “cowardly” on Monday as it emerged the serial killer had refused to appear in court.

He said it is "cowardly that people who commit such horrendous crimes do not face their victims”.

Nicholas Johnson KC, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Court Letby's offending was a "very, very clear case" for a whole-life tariff to be imposed.

He said the murders qualified on a number of grounds, including that they were premeditated and they involved an elements of "sadistic conduct".

Mr Johnson said there was also more than one victim and those victims were children.

The prosecutor opened his remarks by confirming that the defendant "has refused to come into court".