To think Lucy Letby should be made to attend court for the sentencing

[Viviennemary]

I know there are other threads on this terrible case. But I just read she has refused to attend court for the sentencing which is to be on Monday morning. The judge said he does not have the power to force her to attend. Can't see she will ever be allowed out of prison. And rightly so.

Her mh may deteriorate to the point it’s agreed she should be transferred to a high secure hospital

and she can be retuned to prison once deemed she is well enough to

she will be spending a lot of time with mh professionals will she engage that is down to her

Calling it choice, control, power is irrelevant. It is allowing her a choice and taking that choice away from the victims which is wrong, but understandably nothing can/should be forced.

"Don't do it"??? Who made you the thread police? I am winding up noone and will give my opinion how I please.

I dont know why everyone here and on the other threats keeps chuntering on about secure hospitals

She hasnt got (to anyones knowledge) any MH conditions, she hasnt been diagnosed with anything apart from perhaps PTSD which she says is from being arrested 3 times.

Even so, unless she is actively unwell from that, she is not sectionable

Even if she develops depression or becomes suicidal, thats not necessarily a sectionable issue, people suffer with depression and ill MH in prisons every day, in fact the majority of the prison population. People are put on suicide watch all the time, they arent swooped off to psychiatric hospitals

No it's tabloid idiocy, you only have to think it through for about ten seconds to see how this would make an mockery of the court process, result in people getting hurt, fail to actually achieve "making people look at you", invite a court jester dynamic and so on.

It's a bad idea, a kneejerk emotional response and people who endorse it should think about how easily they cheer for bad ideas if they are emotive enough.

i think many are concerned she will be moved to a high secure hospital and feel it shall be more comfortable for her

also it’s difficult for many to accept that she isn’t mentally unwell that’s why the question keeps coming up

Isn’t it to become law? What then?

Yes, I think she should be forced to face her crimes. Though I don’t think she should sit her sentence out behind bars- I don’t think she has a place here.

Then we risk an even bigger retention and recruitment crisis in the prison services than we already have

The only reason it isn't so front and centre in the news is they aren't allowed to strike

If someone doesn't want to attend, that's fine
Must mean they don't want to know.
So just put them in prison with no idea of what their sentence is.
With Letby, given the nature of her crime she is likely to be in solitary confinement for her own safety.

A criminal psychologist said she was born with psychopathic tendencies. Is there really such a thing as ‘bad’, maybe psychosis is the ever present in ‘bad’ people.

Psychosis is not the same as psychopathy.

Anyone could develop psychosis if they become mentally unwell.

I doubt that'll actually happen.

Sunak is coming out with what he thinks people are going to hear, and the Tories are going to be out pretty soon anyway. They probably wouldn't have the time.

Starmer has also jumped on the passing bandwagon, as he so frequently does, but he's got enough relevant professional experience to understand how impractical an idea it is. He won't have any intention of actually following through either. It'll be forgotten soon enough.

I'm not discrediting victim statements. The problem is that everyone seems to think that their primary purpose is to be read to the accused. If you look at the guidance, that is simply not the case. The primary purpose is to inform the judge and, possibly, the parole service at a later stage.

"May" is the operative word there.

ODFO with the thread police nonsense. I'm talking in the wider sense - there is a world beyond a Mumsnet thread, and self-evidently I'm not issuing orders to the world.

It's simple recognition of the fact that the victims' relatives are being wound up into thinking she has gained something important and therefore that they've lost out, which just makes them feel even worse. It would be much better if we said, in effect, "OK, you have the choice to show the world how spineless you are, crack right on. It doesn't change one whit the fact that we know you for what you are, and that you are losing your freedom for the rest of your life"

I genuinely don't understand what people think will be improved by forcing a defendant to listen to the victim statements and sentencing. There isn't suddenly going to be a conversion, an acceptance of what they did. Most likely there will be continued denials and more upset for the families.

I'm sure I'm repeating PPs but she was in the court to hear the guilty verdicts on the 8th August, and then again on the 11th. There was a media blackout for the benefit of the jury until all the verdicts were returned.

It's not a case I can really cope with even offering an option on so that's that extent of what I'm going to say. My thoughts are with the families of the babies attacked by Letby.