The understandable response of many to the horrendous crimes of Lucy Letby has been: “Lock her up and throw away the key.” Letby, a former NHS nurse, has been given 14 whole-life sentences for the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six others while working in a hospital’s neonatal unit between 2015 and 2016.
Much of the media coverage of Letby’s trial has included incomprehension and anger, with discussions as to what her motivations could possibly have been and whether she is “evil” – along with what that might actually mean.
Questions have also been raised as to Letby’s mental health status – and if she is a psychopath. The judge said Letby showed a “malevolence bordering sadism”. And Letby’s crimes seem all the worse because they strike at the innocent – hospitalised babies and their worried families – by someone who is in a position of trust and responsibility.
