Candlelight vigil is held for serial child killer Lucy Letby's victims
Candlelight vigil is held for serial child killer Lucy Letby’s victims: Almost 100 worshippers gather at poignant service for innocent babies that depraved nurse murdered
- Worshippers gather at service for innocent babies murdered by Lucy Letby
Seven candles – one for each of the babies murdered by Lucy Letby – and an eighth for her yet unknown victims were lit in a poignant service at Chester Cathedral last night.
Almost 100 people attended the Service of Lament, Prayer and Hope, led by Dean Tim Stratford.
Staff from the Countess of Chester Hospital, where the infants died, including consultants Dr John Gibbs and Dr Ravi Jayaram, who gave evidence against Letby during the ten-month trial, were among the congregation. Chester Labour MP Samantha Dixon also attended.
Several worshippers fought back tears or dabbed their eyes as the candles were lit while the cathedral choir sang.
The Right Reverend Mark Tanner, the Bishop of Chester, gave the address and members of the congregation were invited to light candles at the end of the service.
Lucy Letby, 33, was last month sentenced to a whole-life term for murdering seven babies and trying to murder six more
Seven candles – one for each of the babies murdered by Lucy Letby (pictured being arrested) – and an eighth for her yet unknown victims were lit in a poignant service at Chester Cathedral last night
Pictured: Countess of Chester Hospital where Letby murdered six babies
Letby, 33, was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six more at the hospital’s neonatal unit during a year-long killing spree last month. The convictions made her the most prolific child serial killer in British history.
She was sentenced to a whole life tariff, meaning she will never be freed.
Following the 40-minute service, the Bishop said: ‘It is really important we gather at a time when people are despairing, when they don’t know where to turn, when there is anger, confusion and grief because the church exists to hold those kind of things, to introduce some kind of hope.
‘It was really hard but it’s right that it is really hard, we are mourning the loss of babies, but it was also really good to be together. The moment of lighting candles in the middle of the service I could barely look up, it was just beautifully poignant.’
A chilling photograph of killer nurse Lucy Letby comforting a newborn at the Countess of Chester Hospital
Lucy Letby is pictured holding an infant at Countess of Chester Hospital in 2012
The Very Reverend Dr Stratford said members of the community had asked him to make the cathedral available as a space to pray following the trial and verdicts.
‘I found it very painful, the stories behind each of these children’s deaths are immensely painful,’ he said.
‘Living in Chester, this has happened in this community. I’ve asked myself in conversation with others how could this happen here? This has happened in the hospital that serves us, a place we know as a place of care.’
Dr Gibbs, who has since retired, said it was ‘hard to make sense’ of what had happened.
He added: ‘Sometimes it’s just a time to pray and express sympathy with the families.’
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