LONDON (AP) — A British judge has sentenced a former neonatal nurse to spend the rest of her life in prison for killing seven babies and attempting to kill six others at a hospital in northern England.

Justice James Goss gave 33-year-old Lucy Letby the most severe sentence possible under British law on Monday.

Following 22 days of deliberation, a Manchester Crown Court jury convicted Letby of murdering the seven babies over a yearlong period that saw her prey on the vulnerabilities of sick newborns and their anxious parents.

Letby refused to appear in court to face her sentencing or to hear grieving parents share their anger and anguish.