Killer nurse Letby lands taxpayer with £100m bill
COMPENSATING victims of Lucy Letby and the legal fees involved will cost taxpayers over £100million.
The killer nurse was convicted or murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six more in the worst NHS scandal in a generation.
Police fear she may have harmed dozens of others in spite of repeated warnings from whistleblowers.
Officers are understood to be looking at 4,000 other cases at the Countess of Chester Hospital, where Letby was employed from 2012 until April 2018, and Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she worked on placement in 2012 and 2015.
Now a combination of payouts, fees associated with the case and the public inquiry into the scandal will result in the final bill for taxpayers arising from the scandal rocketing to a ninefigure sum.
A legal source said: “What Lucy Letby did was on another scale of pure evil, which is very difficult to comprehend.
“The civil process will need to be as thorough and forensic as the criminal case to ensure justice is done for all of those impacted and ultimately nothing like this can ever happen again.
“A figure of £100million is being discussed when everything is taken into consideration.
“That’s compensation for the criminal victims, those who claim she harmed their babies, the legal costs and the public inquiry.”
A public inquiry into Letby’s crimes was announced by the Government after her conviction last year.
High Court Judge Mr Justice Goss sentenced Letby to 14 whole life orders for the seven murders and seven attempted murders, relating to six babies, and told her she would never be eligible for parole.
However, the jury had failed to reach verdicts on six further attempted murder charges, relating to four infants, and prosecutors confirmed last month they were pursuing a retrial on one of them.
Letby, 34, of Hereford, is now appealing against all her convictions. The case will be heard this month.
Last year figures from the Legal Aid Agency revealed the baby killer was awarded more than over £1.5million in legal aid to fund her defence.