Neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, who is the UK’s most prolific child serial killer in modern British history, has been given a whole-life sentence.

The 33-year-old was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six other infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Letby deliberately injected babies with air, force fed others milk and poisoned two of the infants with insulin.She refused to appear in the dock for her sentencing hearing.

Letby will spend the rest of her life behind bars, becoming only the fourth woman in UK history to receive such a sentence.Whole-life orders are the most severe punishment available and are reserved for those who commit the most heinous crimes.

Mr Justice Goss said the “cruelty and calculation” of Letby’s actions between June 2015 and June 2016 were “truly horrific”.“You acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies and in gross breach of the trust that all citizens place in those who work in the medical and caring professions,” he said.

He added handover sheets relating to all but the first four babies were found when police searched Letby’s home, which he was satisfied she kept as “morbid records”.

Sentencing her to a whole-life order for each offence, he said: “There was a malevolence bordering on sadism in your actions.

“During the course of this trial you have coldly denied any responsibility for your wrongdoing.

“You have no remorse. There are no mitigating factors.”He said Letby, originally from Hereford, would be provided with copies of his remarks and the personal statements of the parents.