New report by panel of experts claims killer nurse Lucy Letby is innocent
MANCHESTER, England — The trial of Lucy Letby made headlines around the world due to the sheer horror and scale of the crimes for which she was convicted, but some believe the neonatal nurse is innocent and the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven more at the Countess of Chester Hospital in North West England during a year-long killing spree between June 2015 and June 2016.
She was portrayed by the prosecution as a "constant malevolent presence" on the hospital's neonatal unit and a "calculating and devious" nurse who liked "playing God."
In an apparent handwritten confession note found by police, she said she had killed babies "on purpose."
She also wrote, "I am a horrible evil person" and "I AM EVIL I DID THIS."
Letby, considered to be the United Kingdom's worst serial child killer, was sentenced to 15 life prison terms and has lost two bids to appeal her convictions.
But there has been a growing clamor among leading medical professionals, legal experts and commentators that she is innocent.
Ex-Conservative cabinet minister Sir David Davis has also spoken out and called for a new trial, telling fellow members of parliament (MPs) there was "no hard evidence" against her.
This week, a fresh report presented by a panel of 14 international experts has claimed there is "no medical evidence" she murdered or harmed any of the babies in her care.
During her first ten-month trial — Letby later faced a second trial — she was accused of murdering four of the seven babies by injecting air into their bloodstreams and attempting to kill others by the same method.
The prosecution claimed other babies were harmed by insulin poisoning, being force-fed milk or by trauma to the liver.
But the experts' report rules out any criminality and points to babies deteriorating due to natural causes or "bad medical care."
Therefore, it's claimed Letby is the victim of "one of the major injustices of modern times."
Letby's new lawyer, Mark McDonald, told The Guardian newspaper the report demolished the case against her, and there was "overwhelming evidence this conviction is unsafe."
The report's findings have been sent to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the body that investigates potential miscarriages of justice, which is now formally examining the case.
The CCRC will also be tasked with reexamining the contentious medical evidence used to convict Letby.
In particular, questions have been raised about the prosecution's main medical expert, Dr. Dewi Evans, who claimed babies died from having air injected into their bloodstreams, causing air embolism, a fatal condition.
During Letby's trial, he pointed to skin discoloration in several victims as an indicator of air embolism, citing a 1989 academic paper.
But retired Canadian neonatologist Shoo Lee, a co-author of the paper and chair of the panel, believes the research was misinterpreted by the prosecution, and Dr. Evans' findings have "no basis in evidence."
The panel has also cast doubt on supposed insulin poisonings after Letby's original defense team did not dispute them.
It's claimed that babies were not properly cared for, and there were failures to carry out "basic medical procedures, delays in their treatment and the misdiagnosis of diseases."
Dr. Lee also claimed the hospital was overworked and inadequately staffed, saying, "If this had happened at a hospital in Canada, it would be shut down."
It will take many months for the CCRC to review the case, and there's no guarantee it will be referred back to the Court of Appeal. So, Letby will remain in prison for the foreseeable future, with any bail application likely to be resisted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Meanwhile, a public inquiry examining events at the hospital is due to conclude next month while prosecutors are considering bringing further charges against Letby in other baby deaths at a second hospital, Liverpool Women's Hospital.
A CCRC spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "We have received a preliminary application in relation to Ms. Letby's case, and work has begun to assess the application.
"At this stage, it is not possible to determine how long it will take to review this application. A significant volume of complicated evidence was presented to the court in Ms Letby's trials.
"We anticipate further submissions being made to us."
A CPS spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "Two juries and three appeal court judges have reviewed a multitude of different strands of evidence against Lucy Letby. She has been convicted on 15 separate counts following two separate jury trials.
"In May 2024, the Court of Appeal dismissed Letby's leave to appeal on all grounds, rejecting her argument that expert prosecution evidence was flawed."
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