Image source, Cheshire Constabulary
A photograph of Lucy Letby taken in police custody is on many front pages, which the Daily Mail has published alongside a caption describing her as having “the eyes of evil”.
“A cold, calculating killer” reads the headline in the Times, while the Sun describes her as “twisted”. The Daily Express says “babies lives could have been saved” if hospital chiefs had gone to the police when doctors first voiced their concerns.
Many of the papers pick up on comments made by a police officer during the trial that Letby hid behind a “beige identity”.
The Guardian says her “ordinariness” helped to hide her crimes, which the Daily Mail agrees with. The fact that she was “nondescript”, the Mail says, allowed her to “go under the radar”.
Some highlight another picture of Letby, taken in 2013 for a local newspaper to publicise a fundraising appeal at the Countess of Chester hospital. The Daily Mirror says she went from “poster girl” to “monster on the wards”.
The Daily Telegraph says the expectation that Letby will not attend her sentencing on Monday has been “met with outrage”. A Ministry of Justice source is quoted in the paper as saying “it is a final insult to victims and their families when criminals don’t stand up to what they’ve done in court.”
The newspaper’s editorial columns largely focus on how to prevent a case like Letby’s happening again.
The Guardian says the NHS must learn from shocking failures – that partly stem from an unwillingness to confront the worst-case scenario.
The Times asks “how ready are all NHS hospitals to heed the concerns of whistle-blowers and act on them promptly?”.
The Daily Express says “we may never know what exactly motivated Letby to commit her evil acts” – but there are important questions raised about how the case was handled that must be answered.
Meanwhile, the Telegraph reports that Rishi Sunak has “scaled back” plans for a major cabinet reshuffle next month.
The prime minister is now said to be focusing on replacing ministers who have said they want to step down at the next election, such as Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. Downing Street has told the paper it refuses to comment on “reshuffle speculation”.
Sources have told the Mirror that the King is to hold a royal summit at Balmoral to lay out the future direction of the monarchy. The paper says a central part of his plans will be to use what is described as the “star quality” of the Prince and Princess of Wales to help bind the Commonwealth together.
Michel Roux Junior has told the Times he has “very complicated feelings” about his decision to close his two-Michelin-starred restaurant in London, Le Gavroche.
He has been in charge for more than three decades and says being at the restaurant almost every day for all that time has “taken it’s toll”. The 63-year-old says he will likely be a “gibbering wreck” when the day comes to serve his final guests.
