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33-year-old Letby is the UK's most prolific child serial killer in modern times. During her tenure as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016, she deliberately injected babies with air, poisoned two with insulin and force-fed milk to others.
Letby refused to appear in the dock for her sentencing hearing. Mr Justice Goss addressed her as if she were present. "There was a malevolence bordering on sadism in your actions," he said. "You have no remorse. There are no mitigating factors."
Letby was found not guilty of two counts of attempted murder, while the jury was unable to reach a verdict on six further charges of attempted murder. Prior to her arrival on the neonatal ward of the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015, the ward saw fewer than three baby deaths per year.
The trial, which lasted for more than 10 months, is believed to be the UK's longest murder trial to date. Letby's defence team argued that the alarming rise in deaths and near-fatal collapses of premature babies at the hospital were the product of a "system that wanted to apportion blame when it failed".
