Lucy Letby struck off the nursing register
Posted 12 December 2023 - 17:35
Child killer did not contest move to strip her of her registration, after perpetrating crimes that ‘breached the fundamental tenets of nursing’
Serial killer Lucy Letby has been struck off the UK nursing register in a formal move by the regulator.
The most prolific child killer in modern British history is serving a whole-life prison term for the murders of seven babies and attempted murders of six others – one of the infants on two occasions – in 2015 and 2016 on the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital, where she worked.
She was stripped of her nursing registration at a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) fitness to practise hearing on 12 December, following her convictions in August.
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Lives have been terribly impacted by Letby's heinous and heart-breaking crimes, says NMC's Sutcliffe
NMC chief executive Andrea Sutcliffe said after the decision: 'The thoughts and sympathies of everyone at the NMC remain with the parents, families and children whose lives have been so terribly impacted by Lucy Letby's heinous and heart-breaking crimes.'
Christopher Scott, for the NMC, had told the panel that Letby faced 14 fitness to practise charges, one for each of her criminal convictions. He said Letby had put patients at unwarranted risk, brought the profession into disrepute and breached fundamental tenets of the profession.
He drew on sentencing remarks by trial judge Mr Justice Goss, who said Letby had perpetrated ‘a cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder’ that involved ‘deep malevolence bordering on sadism’, and that Letby had shown no remorse.
The former children’s nurse indicated she would not contest the striking-off process, and had no wish to attend the hearing. In documentation, she stated: ‘I accept the fact of the convictions. However I do not accept that I am guilty of any of the allegations. I maintain my innocence. These convictions are now the subject of an appeal.’
Statutory inquiry into Letby will examine how concerns were handled
Ms Sutcliffe said: 'As soon as there was a verdict in the criminal trial, we moved forward with our own fitness to practise proceedings as quickly as possible, and we can confirm that an independent panel has today ordered that Ms Letby be struck off the register. This will take effect in January when Ms Letby will cease to be a registered nurse. In the meantime, she remains under interim suspension from the register.'
Letby’s ten-month trial at Manchester Crown Court heard she used various ways to harm the babies including injecting air into the bloodstream or stomach, overfeeding with milk, physical assault and poisoning with insulin.
She is due to go to retrial in June 2024 for one charge of attempted murder, after the jury was unable to reach a verdict on that allegation.
The Department of Health and Social Care announced a statutory inquiry into the crimes, to be led by senior judge Lady Justice Thirlwall, which will examine how clinicians’ concerns about the nurse were handled.
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