Lucy Letby case ‘may be miscarriage of justice' & there's ‘gaps in evidence', coroner's officer who reviewed deaths says

The Sun

2 days ago

LUCY Letby's case may be a miscarriage of justice with "gaps in evidence" left unexplained, a former coroner's officer has claimed.
4
4
4
4
The nurse also tried to kill seven others - including one baby twice - at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
But now, a former senior coroner's officer has claimed she fears Letby "suffered a miscarriage of justice".
Stephanie Davies, who worked within Cheshire Police at the time the investigation into baby deaths was opened, was given three hours to carry out her review in 2017.
She argued there were 'gaps' in the explanations given about the deaths of babies.
In an interview with The Guardian and Channel 4 News, Davies revealed how she had expressed alarm that a medical procedure conducted on one of the babies was not reported to the coroner at the time.
Her report was later integral to the decision to investigate Letby, Davies said.
However, she now believes that crucial details about one of the babies could have made a difference to the investigation.
'I am now extremely concerned that the convictions of Ms Letby are wholly unsafe,' she wrote to Cheshire's senior coroner.
Davies 'stands by' her initial review but said she feels 'almost guilty that it contributed to a police investigation being started, which led to convictions that I now believe are unsafe and a miscarriage of justice.'
Davies added: 'I reported that there were missing jigsaw pieces, that the deaths of the babies hadn't been fully explained.
'I said if the police went ahead with an investigation, they may find those missing pieces.
"But I did not say, or see any evidence, that any of the babies had been deliberately harmed.'
Dr Neil Aiton and Dr Svilena Dimitrova produced a report for Mark McDonald, Letby's lawyer, on a triplet who died at the hospital and was referred to as Baby O at the trial.
The specialist consultant neonatologists suggested that a doctor had mistakenly inserted a needle with a cannula into Baby O's liver when trying to relieve abdominal swelling and that this was a cause of his death.
Davies said these explanations 'filled the gaps' she had seen when reviewing the file 'much more than the police and prosecution case against Lucy Letby'.
But during the trial, Dr Stephen Brearey, the clinical lead of the neonatal unit who inserted the needle, said it was 'nowhere near' the liver.
And prosecution medical experts argued that the procedure was not significant to the harm the baby suffered.
However, Letby was found guilty of inflicting the liver damage, and injecting air into the baby's stomach and veins.
Davies has now said she has since found the explanations of new medical experts, who have publicly contested the prosecution arguments, compelling.
Davies lost her job at Cheshire police in 2023 after a different review she conducted, which challenged the outcomes of two murder investigations.
Cheshire cops pursued Davies for gross misconduct, alleging that she breached duties of confidentiality when she sent details to the experts.
However, she resigned from the force before her disciplinary hearing.
The charges Letby has been convicted of in full
Child A, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby injected air intravenously into the bloodstream of the baby boy. COUNT 1 GUILTY.
Child B, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby attempted to murder the baby girl, the twin sister of Child A, by injecting air into her bloodstream. COUNT 2 GUILTY.
Child C, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said Letby forced air down a feeding tube and into the stomach of the baby boy. COUNT 3 GUILTY.
Child D, allegation of murder. The Crown said air was injected intravenously into the baby girl. COUNT 4 GUILTY.
Child E, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby murdered the twin baby boy with an injection of air into the bloodstream and also deliberately caused bleeding to the infant. COUNT 5 GUILTY.
Child F, allegation of attempted murder. Letby was said by prosecutors to have poisoned the twin brother of Child E with insulin. COUNT 6 GUILTY.
Child I, allegation of murder. The prosecution said Letby killed the baby girl at the fourth attempt and had given her air and overfed her with milk. COUNT 12 GUILTY.
Child K, allegation of attempted murder. The prosecution said Letby compromised the baby girl as she deliberately dislodged a breathing tube. COUNT 14 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT AT ORIGINAL TRIAL, NOW GUILTY AFTER RETRIAL
Child L, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said the nurse poisoned the twin baby boy with insulin. COUNT 15 GUILTY.
Child M, allegation of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby injected air into the bloodstream of Child L's twin brother. COUNT 16 GUILTY.
Child N, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby inflicted trauma in the baby boy's throat and also injected him with air in the bloodstream. COUNT 17 GUILTY, COUNT 18 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT, COUNT 19 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child O, allegation of murder. Prosecutors say Letby attacked the triplet boy by injecting him with air, overfeeding him with milk and inflicting trauma to his liver with "severe force". COUNT 20 GUILTY.
Child P, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said the nurse targeted the triplet brother of Child O by overfeeding him with milk, injecting air and dislodging his breathing tube. COUNT 21 GUILTY.
Child Q, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby injected the baby boy with liquid, and possibly air, down his feeding tube. COUNT 22 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT
Responding to Davies' concerns about the Lucy Letby case, a Cheshire police spokesperson told The Guardian: "A disciplinary hearing in February 2023 found allegations of gross misconduct by Stephanie Davies unrelated to the Lucy Letby case to be proved and had she not already resigned, she would have been dismissed without notice.
'Cheshire Constabulary strongly refute the credibility of these claims.'
The court of appeal twice last year refused Letby's permission to appeal.
Her lawyer, Mark McDonald, has applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), arguing that the convictions are unsafe and should be referred back to the court of appeal.
Earlier this month it emerged Lucy Letby could be facing more charges over the deaths of babies at hospitals she worked at.
Cheshire Police have been investigating further 'deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies'.
Letby is understood to have carried out two work placements at Liverpool Women's Hospital - where she trained as a student - between October and December 2012, and January and February 2015.
And it comes after three people - who were in senior leadership roles at the Countess of Chester Hospital - were arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter as part of an investigation into the baby deaths.
In a statement, a spokesman for the CPS said: "We will now carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought.
"As always, we will make that decision independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test."