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Prosecutors consider further charges against Lucy Letby

Prosecutors consider further charges against Lucy Letby

Prosecutors are considering bringing further charges against nurse Lucy Letby amid allegations she may have harmed babies at hospitals where she worked.
Letby, 35, is serving life in jail after being found guilty of murdering seven newborns and attempting to kill eight more at the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in northern England between June 2015 and June 2016.
Letby has been named the UK's most prolific child killer in modern times. She has maintained her innocence.
Her lawyers are seeking to have the case reviewed, saying there are serious doubts over whether she was guilty of any crimes.
But Letby has been refused permission to appeal.
However, following her convictions, police said they were investigating whether she had committed further crimes, and the Crown Prosecution Service said it was now examining the evidence.
"We will now carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought."
It said a referral by police did not mean charges would follow.
Since Letby was jailed, some lawmakers and medical experts have publicly challenged the prosecution evidence that was used to find her guilty, with some experts querying whether any babies had actually been murdered at all.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission, which examines potential miscarriages of justice, is currently considering an application from Letby's legal team, and her lawyer Mark McDonald claimed on Wednesday the evidence of her innocence was "overwhelming".
"We will cross every bridge when we get to it but if Lucy is charged I know we have a whole army of internationally renowned medical experts who will totally undermine the prosecution's unfounded allegations," Mr McDonald said in a statement.
On Tuesday, detectives said they had arrested three unnamed senior members of the hospital's leadership team as part of their separate investigation into individuals and the Chester hospital itself.
"Both the corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter elements of the investigation are continuing and there are no set timescales for these," said Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, who is leading the investigation.
The CPS said it had not yet been asked to consider any charges in relation to the investigation into the staff or the hospital itself.
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