The crimes of former neonatal nurse Letby are abhorrent and beyond comprehension. She has been found guilty in a court of law and, quite rightly, is now in jail. Justice has been served yet this case has thrown up a number of concerns, namely the desire that those found guilty of such crimes are to be in court for sentencing and the handing out of whole life sentences.
Let’s deal with the first. I can well understand the overwhelming desire of those who have been wronged to want to see justice done. Wanting the perpetrators to feel their pain and anguish may help them in some way to seek closure. Forcing the guilty back into court to hear something that will ultimately make no difference to their case is fraught with danger however. The convict is likely to fall into three categories: remorseful, defiant and the disassociated. My suspicion is that Letsby will fall into the last. Those who are remorseful will already understand the nature of their crimes. A victim statement may not add anything to their sense of wrongdoing. The defiant may well find the process amusing, adding fuel to their perverted fire. Facing such a felon would be traumatic for the victim’s family and could make things worse. The disassociated may well have little comprehension of their actions and so hearing statements would make no difference to the way they feel.
Unfortunately forcing convicts back into court for sentencing is an open goal for populist politics. Already both main parties are falling over themselves to promise new laws that, in my opinion, wil be unworkable, unnecessary and potentially counterproductive.
As for the second issue, I am deeply disturbed by whole life sentences. Although they are used sparingly it is wrong that a society can lock up a person indefinitely without any prospect of release. I accept that murderers should go to jail and that, depending upon circumstances, it should be for a long time but for ever? Incarceration is meant to achieve three things, to punish the guilty for their wrongdoing, to protect society from further danger and to rehabilitate the criminal so that they can reintegrate into society.
Letsby will be punished for her crimes. I doubt, however, that after twenty or thirty years she will be a danger to society. She will never work in nursing or with children again and so what opportunity will she have to perpetrate her crimes? She will never have the opportunity for rehabilitation or reintegration. This is wrong. However heinous the crime everyone should have the right to review, even if that consideration leads to continued incarceration.
These issues are highly complicated. Justice is a two edged sword and the system doesn’t always get it right. My understanding of the law is limited and I am thankful that we have people who are responsible for making these agonising judgements.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 