BBC hits back after show slammed for 'suggesting Lucy Letby should be forgiven'
The BBC has slammed claims that its Thought of the Day radio show suggested that convicted killer and ex-nurse Lucy Letby should be forgiven for murdering seven babies.
The broadcaster sparked outrage after airing a radio program that called for Lucy Letby to be supported and forgiven in spite of her heinous crimes.
On Friday's episode of Thought for the Day, Catholic broadcaster Catherine Pepinster discussed the importance of prayer not for just the baby murderer's victims, but for all those affected by the case. Letby, 33, was sentenced to life imprisonment earlier this week after being convicted of murdering seven babies, and attempting to kill six others, while working as a neonatal nurse between June 2015 and June 2016.
Pepinster, who is an English expert in theology, sparked some backlash from listeners of the daily reflections podcast this morning when she suggested that the disgraced killer could one day be worthy of God's forgiveness.
A spokesperson for the BBC has slammed these claims, however, calling it a "complete misrepresentation of Friday’s Thought for the Day."
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
"Catholic commentator Catherine Pepinster said she had been 'outraged by the crimes of Lucy Letby' and admitted that she found Christian teaching about forgiveness hard to take in light of Letby’s crimes," a spokesperson told the Mirror. "She commented that forgiveness was not for anyone but God and the parents and added they would have to be superhuman to do so. She went on to reflect that prisoners given life sentences should be treated as humans and made to face up to why they carried out their 'terrible deeds'.
"There are times when although I’m a Christian I find some aspects of Christianity hard to take," Pepinster said during the show. "Yet Christianity requires that we don’t just pray for those families but we also consider that Letby as much as anyone else is loved by God and can seek his forgiveness."
Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies (Chester Standard / SWNS.com)
Lucy Letby worked as a neonatal nurse in Chester (Chester Chronicle)"It’s not for me or anyone else apart from the almighty and the parents to forgive Letby," she continued, before noting that "and frankly, for them to forgive her would probably require her to be superhuman."
She also said that Letby should not be deprived of support in prison, arguing that the 'throw away the key' mentality is not beneficial to anybody.
Listeners were quick to condemn Pepinster's remarks, with some critics slamming them as disrespectful to the victims and their loved ones.
"Today's thought for the day in my opinion was out of order and totally disrespectful to the family of those babies, given how fresh in the minds Letby's court case is," one person wrote on Twitter, while another said, "It really is time to ditch this #TFTD."
Letby, who was first arrested on suspicion of murder in 2018, has never given a motive for her crimes. A court heard that the disgraced healthcare worker intentionally harmed babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Greater Manchester, including injecting air intravenously and administering milk into the stomach of her victims via nasogastric tubes. Despite being found guilty by a unanimous jury on August 18, Letby has always denied all of the allegations against her. She also refused to appear in court for her sentencing on August 21.
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