What was the final verdict in Lucy Letby’s infanticide case?

Neonatal nurse Lucy Letby was arrested and charged in relation to a string of infant deaths back in 2020, and faced a harsh verdict from the courts.

Letby was first charged back in 2020 and has been serving jail time ever since, but her case came back into the public eye first in 2023, when her final verdict came down, and again in 2024 when questions surrounding her case arose. Those were largely prompted by a New Yorker report that questioned the validity of the verdict, and proposed alternative explanations for the string of infant deaths.

That report likely won’t change Letby’s verdict, but it is prompting a reexamination of the charges that led to her current jail time. She’ll likely spend the rest of her life behind bars, but — in the minds of a dozen affected parents — no amount of jail time will ever be enough.

What was Lucy Letby’s final verdict?

A conclusive verdict didn’t come down in Letby’s case until 2023, when the courts finally settled on a punishment for the British nurse. Three years of criminal proceedings preceded the verdict, as Letby’s crimes were laid bare, and the courts deliberated her guilt, and — if so — what punishment could possibly make up for the loss of so many infant lives.

Ahead of her sentencing, Letby was a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester, a city in Cheshire, England. Following Letby’s transition into the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, a string of infant deaths baffled hospital staff, who gradually realized that only one element connected each case: Letby. She was the only staff member consistently on duty when the surge in child deaths occurred, but it took far too many little lives lost for hospital higher-ups to connect the dots.

Letby was ultimately found guilty and convicted for the murder of seven separate babies, along with the attempted murder of six others over a one-year period. She was pinned as the culprit behind the deaths of a slew of newborn infants, several of whom were later discovered to have had air injected into various parts of their bodies. Other deaths were attributed to overfeeding and physical abuse using medical instruments. Evidence suggests that each of these infants would have survived if not for Letby’s interference, which ultimately led to their deaths.

The conviction handed down in 2023 landed Letby with a harsh verdict, but one that a number of heartbroken parents find appropriate. The 34-year-old nurse was slapped with a life sentence, and the judge even added a special order to ensure she doesn’t qualify for an early release.

Letby found herself on the receiving end of the most severe criminal penalty that exists in the United Kingdom when her life sentence came with a whole life order attached. This order is reserved for only the most severe cases, intended to prevent any instance of early release. With it attached, Letby is not eligible for parole or conditional release, and — barring a Royal pardon or compassionate release — will live out the rest of her days behind bars, far from the helpless infants with which she once worked.