On 19 July 2022, during the Tory leadership campaign, he tweeted: "As PM, I will do everything possible to make sure victims have the chance to look their perpetrator in the eye and witness justice being served."

It was the day Kemi Badenoch was eliminated, leaving Mr Sunak, Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt in the race, and Mr Sunak pledged to support victims and make sure criminals faced the consequences of their actions.

So what's happened since? Answer: very little. And amid the furore over Letby's refusal to appear in the dock to hear her punishment, Mr Sunak's pledge of support for victims more than a year ago has still not been acted upon.

Indeed, the government's response to the Letby verdicts by promising legislation in the King's Speech - not until 7 November - means it could be another year before a repeat of her court boycott that has prompted such fury is outlawed.

No wonder that amid the grief and anguish caused to the bereaved families of Letby's murder of the innocents, ministers stand accused of "dither and delay" in stopping cowardly offenders from hiding from their sentencing.

It's not as if the government hasn't had ample warning about what even Ministry of Justice officials condemned after Letby's snub as "a final insult to victims and their families when criminals don't stand up to what they've done in court".

Back in March, the then justice secretary Dominic Raab announced on Sky News that criminals who fail to turn up in court to hear their judgment should face tougher sentences as a matter of "respect" for victims.

That was in response to Jordan McSweeney, a serial offender convicted of the murder and sexual assault of law graduate Zara Aleena in Ilford, east London, provoking fury by refusing to attend court for his sentencing.

Asked whether the government was considering forcing judges to bring people up from their cells, Mr Raab told Sky News: "It's definitely something I'm looking at, I think both as a matter of respect and recognition of the bereaved of victims, but also frankly, respect for the principle of British justice."

But still no action was taken, although Mr Raab resigned from the government in April following bullying allegations and was succeeded by Alex Chalk, a barrister who represented journalists accused of phone-hacking and prosecuted terrorists.

Read more:
Bereaved demand new law to force sentencing appearance
Can criminals like Lucy Letby be forced into court?
The psychology behind healthcare murderers

Fury from bereaved relatives

There was more fury from bereaved relatives when Thomas Cashman, the gunman who murdered nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in her own home in a botched gangland assassination attempt in Liverpool, also failed to attend his sentencing.

That outcry prompted Ian Byrne, the left-wing Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, to challenge Mr Chalk in the Commons in June to speed up moves to change the law to force offenders to attend their sentencing.

Instead of simply waiting until the King's Speech in November, Mr Byrne proposed a practical solution: including provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Bill currently going through parliament.

Mr Chalk's response was classic Yes Minister Whitehall waffle. "There are issues of scope and all sorts of things as to whether legislative measures can be included within certain Bills," he told Mr Byrne.

But in the wake of Lucy Letby's threatened court boycott, a former Tory justice secretary and Lord Chancellor, Sir Robert Buckland, told Sky News on Saturday the current bill was a "vehicle" that could be used.

"The government has got the Victims and Prisoners Bill going through the House of Commons," said Sir Robert. "It's going to come back for further stages later in the year. That's an opportunity, I think, for the government to act."

Sir Robert also proposed a potential compromise solution, suggesting: "A live link into the cell with the sound and video on so that the defendant has no choice.

"They have to hear what's being said and the judge and everybody in the court will be confident knowing that as they speak this is being broadcast to the defendant who literally has no place to hide."

PM's spokesman appears to rule out speeding up process

But speaking just minutes before Letby was sentenced, the prime minister's official spokesman appeared to rule out speeding up the process by including new powers in the bill currently going through parliament.

"The Victims and Prisoners Bill only covers victims and certain parts of criminal justice policy," he said. "So it wouldn't be an appropriate vehicle for this sort of change."

Really? Surely if there was the political will to act without delay it could be done? When they want to act urgently, governments often add new clauses to bills already going through parliament. So why not now?

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

Labour turns up heat on Sunak

Labour, not surprisingly, has turned up the heat on the PM. "Stop letting victims down, Rishi Sunak," says shadow justice secretary Steve Reed. "End your dither and delay."

Mr Chalk, meanwhile, has responded to Letby's no-show by claiming the government is "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".

Colourful prose, indeed. But could "looking at options" be a hint of a U-turn?

What's ringing in the government's ears right now is a noisy clamour from MPs, lawyers and distraught bereaved families for urgent action to change the law.

After all, it is now more than a year since Mr Sunak promised - during the heat of the Tory leadership campaign - to do "everything possible" to support victims.