Child serial killer Lucy Letby struck off register at Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing

Child serial killer Lucy Letby has been stripped of her nursing credentials after a panel ordered she be struck off from the register at a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing.

The 33-year-old was sentenced in August to 14 whole-life orders after being convicted of murdering seven babies and trying to murder six others, with two bids on one victim.

The panel found she was unfit to practise nursing before it went on to make the striking-off order, a move they have heard Letby does not resist, despite maintaining her innocence in respect of her convictions.

Her crimes took place in the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit where she worked between June 2015 and June 2016.

At a hearing in Stratford, east London, on Tuesday, panel chairman Bernard Herdan said: “She deliberately inflicted extreme harm on the most vulnerable of victims.”

He added that her actions were “so serious that to allow her to continue practising would pose an unacceptable risk to the public and would undermine public confidence in the profession”.

The chairman also said she abused her position of trust as a nurse, has shown no remorse and that there were no mitigating factors.

He imposed an interim suspension order against Letby for 18 months to cover a potential appeal period.

The decisions follow submissions from Christopher Scott, for the NMC, in which he said: “The NMC’s position is that the registrant’s convictions for murder and attempted murder are so serious – indeed it is hard, perhaps unbearable, to conceive of a case that is more serious – requiring a striking off order.”

He asked the panel to “robustly and quickly” disregard lesser sanctions which would be “insufficient” to protect the public, and maintain professional standards and public confidence.

He called the harm Letby caused “egregious” and her lack of remorse “striking”.

The barrister quoted Mr Justice Goss’s sentencing remarks over the course of his submissions – highlighting the judge saying “this was a cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder” that involved “a deep malevolence bordering on sadism” for which Letby showed “no remorse”.

Mr Scott earlier told the panel that Letby faced 14 charges, brought by the council, which reflect her criminal convictions.

He said it is “a matter of legal fact” that Letby was convicted of seven counts each of murder and attempted murder at Manchester Crown Court in August.

The panel was told Letby was asked in a “tick-box exercise” if she accepted the NMC charges.

She ticked “yes” to each of the charges, but added: “I do not wish to take part or be present at the hearing. I do not resist the application to strike me off the nursing register.

“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 in respect of all of the convictions.

“These convictions are now the subject of an appeal.”

The panel found the fact of Letby’s convictions was proven.

Letby, of Hereford, was told of the hearing, but did not attend and was not represented.

The panel decided to proceed in her absence.

Andrea Sutcliffe, NMC chief executive and registrar, said: “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.

“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 faces a retrial next June for one count of attempted murder.