Sir Keir Starmer has accused the Government of “dragging its heels” over changing the law to force criminals to attend their sentencing hearings.

Lucy Letby will spend the rest of her life in jail after murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six more at the hospital where she worked.

The 33-year-old refused to attend her sentencing at Manchester Crown Court on August 21 where she was given a whole-life sentence in her absence.

Her non-attendance comes amid growing calls to force defendents to appear before a judge following the non-attendance of the killers of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Zara Aleena and Sabina Nessa.

Amid anger from the victims’ families at her refusal to attend, the judge told Letby she would be provided with copies of his remarks and the personal statements of the parents.

The Labour leader and MP for Holborn and St Pancras said: “I want to see action as quickly as possible in this case because victims’ families have been through the most awful ordeal. They’re entitled to see justice delivered…

“So we need to change the law. I hope the Government will do it because I think it can be done very quickly.

“If they don’t, we will force an amendment to appropriate legislation. 

"But actually, my position is to invite the Government to get on with it, to offer Labour’s support so this could go through very, very quickly.

“This isn’t the first case. The Government has been dragging its heels on this.

"Get on with it for the sake of these victims, and of course, the other cases that went before it.”

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said Letby's non-attendance was “the final insult”.

“Cases like these make me even more determined to make sure the worst offenders attend court to face justice, when ordered by the judge,” he added.

“That’s why we are looking at options to change the law at the earliest opportunity to ensure that in the silence that follows the clang of the prison gate, society’s condemnation will be ringing in prisoners’ ears.”

Letby was convicted by a jury of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six more while working in the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit between 2015 and 2016.

During her trial which began in October, jurors heard how she injected premature babies with insulin, air or milk, causing them to collapse and in seven cases, die.

Hospital bosses have been accused of ignoring concerns raised about Letby by her colleagues.

The Government has called for an independent non-statutory inquiry to investigate what happened, but it has no power to compel witnesses to give evidence. 

Sir Keir has added his voice to the growing number of figures calling for the independent probe to be strengthened

The Labour leader said: “I think it should be a statutory inquiry and I’ll tell you why.

“One because that’s what the victims’ family want and after what they’ve been through, I think that is a really important consideration.

“Secondly, what a statutory inquiry gives you is the power to order documents, to order witnesses to come forward. 

"So we get the fullest, proper, comprehensive analysis of what went wrong here.

“So I think it has to be a statutory inquiry. I don’t think that needs to hold things up. We could get on with that very quickly.”