Lucy Letby stripped of NHS pension after being jailed for murderous rampage

23 August 2023 , 11:09

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The serial killer nurse was sentenced to a whole life order on Monday (Image: Chester Chronicle)

Lucy Letby will be stripped of her NHS pension after being jailed for her murderous rampage at the neonatal unit where she worked.

The serial killer nurse was sentenced to a whole life order on Monday after a jury convicted her of the murders of seven babies and attempted murder of six more at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015-2016. Letby refused to appear in the dock to be sentenced, as devastated families of her victims spoke of how her evil actions have torn their lives apart.

Now, Health Secretary Steve Barclay is looking into all measures that prevent her pension from being paid to her, reports The Independent. Under the NHS Pension Scheme Regulations, the minister can forfeit pensions if NHS employees are convicted of crimes.

This is especially prevalent with those who are “gravely injurious to the state or to be liable to lead to serious loss of confidence in the public service”. Letby displayed "malevolence bordering on sadism" following a "cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder," a judge at Manchester Crown Court said.

The nurse deliberately harmed the infants in various ways, including by injecting air intravenously and administering air and/or milk into the stomach via nasogastric tubes. The prosecution also revealed that she added insulin as a poison to intravenous feeds, interfered with breathing tubes, and inflicted trauma in some cases.

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Letby denied all the allegations as she gave evidence in the witness box for 14 days during the trial, which began last October. She denied doing anything harmful to any child and that the sudden collapses and deaths could have been due to natural causes, or for some unascertained reason, or from failure by others to provide appropriate care.

After Letby refused to go to court for sentencing, Judge Mr Justice Goss said he'd pass sentence at Manchester Crown Court as if she were present before him, and she'll receive a copy of his address anyway.

He said: "There was premeditation, calculation and cunning in your actions. Loving parents have been robbed of their cherished children. You have caused deep psychological trauma. You acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies and in gross breach of the trust that all citizens place in those who work in the medical and caring professions."

Hannah Kane