Rishi Sunak has branded serial child murderer Lucy Letby “cowardly” for refusing to appear for her sentencing hearing.

The 33-year-old did not turn up in the dock at Manchester Crown Court on Monday as she faced a whole life order after being convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six more.

The Prime Minister said the Government was looking at changing the law so criminals were compelled to attend their sentencing hearings. He was asked during a visit to a nursery in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, on Monday whether ministers were moving too slowly on making the change.

An image issued by Cheshire Constabulary of the arrest of Lucy Letby. Picture: Cheshire Constabulary/PA Wire

Mr Sunak told broadcasters: “The first thing is to extend my sympathies to everyone affected by this. I think, like everyone reading about this, it’s just shocking and harrowing.

“Now, I think it’s cowardly that people who commit such horrendous crimes do not face their victims and hear first-hand the impact that their crimes have had on them and their families and loved ones.

“We are looking, and have been, at changing the law to make sure that that happens and that’s something that we’ll bring forward in due course.”

Mr Sunak also defended the non-statutory inquiry announced by the Government into Letby’s crimes amid calls for it to be put on a statutory footing led by a judge.

Asked whether it should be upgraded to a judge-led probe, with the power to compel witnesses to appear before it, the Prime Minister said: “I think the important thing for the inquiry to do is make sure that families get the answers that they need, that it is possible for us to learn the lessons from what happened, everything conducted transparently, and to happen as quickly as possible.

“Those are the objectives that we want for the inquiry and we’ll make sure that it’s set up to deliver on those aims.”

Children’s minister Claire Coutinho earlier argued the independent inquiry launched after Letby’s convictions on Friday would be “much quicker”.

But Dame Christine Beasley, a former chief nursing officer, warned witnesses “can opt out of it if they want to” as she joined a growing list of figures pushing for the investigation to be strengthened.

Steve Brine, the Conservative chairman of the Health Select Committee, warned on Sunday that some key witnesses may not be willing to co-operate with the independent inquiry, which he said could drag on for years and “disappear down a rabbit hole”.

Lucy Letby sentencing: Rishi Sunak brands nurse ‘cowardly’ for failing to attend sentencing in court