What does Christian justice look like in the case of Lucy Letby?

The CEO of Prison Fellowship believes that no one is beyond hope. But when heinous crimes are committed, that slogan is tested. What does justice look like when dealing with a convicted murderer? Peter Holloway explores

Our criminal justice system was established for three purposes - to punish, to rehabilitate offenders and to protect the public. Often, however, the focus of the system appears to be to determine blame (guilt) and impose punishment (pain). The more heinous the crime, the more this rule applies and the emphasis turns fully towards an offender getting what is felt to be their just deserts.

So, when we ask how society should respond when a crime is committed, we tend to ask just one question. What does the offender ‘deserve’? This is a natural human response to the pain we feel - either directly, as victims of crime, or vicariously, through feeling the grief of others.