Ministers have announced plans to tweak the law on Saturday to make sure the worst types of murderers will never get out of prison.
Judges already have the discretionary power to hand out whole life orders to the most serious cases of murder so they would never be eligible for parole.
Under the proposed “life means life” change in the law, whole life orders will become the default sentence for any killing that involves sexual or sadistic conduct, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC said.
The government said this will give judges “greater confidence to hand out whole life orders without a risk of challenge in the Courts of Appeal.”
Mr. Chalk said, “A whole life order will now be the expectation for murderers where the killing involves sexual or sadistic conduct.
“This important law change will ensure that the worst of the worst can now expect to spend the rest of their lives in prison.”
The 33-year-old neonatal nurse who was responsible for looking after premature babies was convicted on Aug. 18 of the murder of seven babies and seven counts of attempted murder involving six more babies.
Regarding eight more charges of attempted murder, she was cleared of two and the jurors couldn’t reach a conclusion on the other six that involved four more babies.
The court heard Letby had used a variety of ways to kill the infants, such as injecting air into their bloodstream, pushing air into their stomach, poisoning them with insulin, overfeeding them with milk, or manipulating their feeding or breathing tubes.
The deaths and collapses appeared natural, leading to suspicions of her being dismissed by the hospital for months.
Police are now going through “every single baby’s admission into neonatal unit” throughout her career to find out whether there have been others whom she had killed or maimed.
Letby was the fourth woman in UK history to receive such a whole life order, after Myra Hindley, girlfriend and accomplice of Moors murderer Ian Brady, and serial killers Rose West and Joanna Dennehy. Hindley has died in prison.
Gun fanatic Louis De Zoysa was handed such a sentence last month after shooting Metropolitan Police custody sergeant Matt Ratana while handcuffed in a police cell in 2020.
Referring to recent cases, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement, “I have shared the public’s horror at the cruelty of crimes we have seen recently. People rightly expect that in the most serious cases, there should be a guarantee that life will mean life. They expect honesty in sentencing.
“By bringing in mandatory whole life orders for the heinous criminals who commit the most horrific types of murder, we will make sure they never walk free,” he said.
The government said the legislation will be introduced “in due course.”
According to the Express, which had an exclusive interview with Mr. Sunak, the prime minister plans to unveil new rules between the King’s Speech in November and the next General Election.
A total of 70 criminals are serving a whole-life order, four of whom are being held in secure hospitals. They will never be considered for release unless there are exceptional compassionate grounds to warrant it.
