The notorious British “killer nurse” who was convicted last week of killing seven babies and attempting to kill six more refused to appear in court for her sentencing and face the victims’ families, who blasted her absence as “just one final act of wickedness from a coward.”

Lucy Letby, 33, was not present in court as she was ordered to spend the rest of her life behind bars — the most severe sentence possible under British law — at a hearing in Manchester Crown Court in northern England.

Letby also skipped out on appearing for the verdicts, fueling even more rage from the families of the children whose lives she claimed.

“Even in these final days of the trial she tried to control things, the disrespect she has shown the families and the court show what type of person she is,” said the mother of Child E, who died, and Child F, who survived.

“We have attended court day in and day out, yet she decides she has had enough, and stays in her cell, just one final act of wickedness from a coward.”

“I don’t think we will ever get over the fact that our daughter was tortured till she had no fight left in her and everything she went through over her short life was deliberately done by someone who was supposed to protect her and help her come home where she belonged,” the mother of a girl identified as Child I said in court.

Another parent of Letby’s victims — a mother of twins who had one child killed while the other survived — had hoped Letby would be there to hear about the devastation caused by her crimes.

“You thought it was your right to play God with our children’s lives,” the mother said in a statement to the court.

Prosecutor Nicholas Johnson said the neonatal nurse deserved a “whole-life tariff” for “sadistic conduct” and premeditated crimes.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who called the crimes “shocking and harrowing,” said his government would bring forward in “due course” its plan to require convicts to attend their sentencing.

“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,” Sunak said.

She was found guilty on Friday of the deaths of five infant boys and two girls between 2015 and 2016 at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The jury deliberated for 22 days before concluding that Letby deliberately harmed the children by injecting air into their bloodstreams, poisoning them with insulin and administering air or milk into their stomachs.

The former nurse was acquitted on one charge of attempted murder, and the jury failed to return a verdict on several other counts.

Letby was dismissed from her job in late June 2016. She was arrested at her home in July 2018.

An independent investigation will be conducted into what happened at the hospital and how, officials said.

With Post wires