Latest news with #Stephanie Davies
The Sun
2 days ago
- The Sun
Lucy Letby case ‘may be miscarriage of justice' & there's ‘gaps in evidence', coroner's officer who reviewed deaths says
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."
The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
Former senior coroner's officer says Lucy Letby has suffered miscarriage of justice
A senior coroner's officer who first reviewed the deaths of babies at the Countess of Chester hospital for Cheshire police in 2017 now believes Lucy Letby has suffered a miscarriage of justice. Stephanie Davies, who was given three hours to carry out her review, was told it was key to detectives deciding to commence an investigation into the former neonatal nurse. In her first interview, with the Guardian and Channel 4 News, Davies said she had become increasingly alarmed since December, when she learned that the hospital doctors had not reported a key medical procedure on one of the babies to the coroner at the time. She has since found the explanations of new medical experts, who have publicly contested the prosecution arguments, compelling. Last month, Davies wrote to Cheshire's senior coroner explaining her original involvement. 'I am now extremely concerned that the convictions of Ms Letby are wholly unsafe,' she wrote. Letby, who was a nurse in the hospital's neonatal unit, was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more, and sentenced to a whole life in prison for each offence. The court of appeal twice last year refused her permission to appeal. Letby's 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. A panel of international experts led by the world renowned neonatologist Dr Shoo Lee, who were instructed by McDonald, have publicly argued that Letby has been wrongly convicted, that there were no murders, and the babies died from natural causes and instances of poor care in the hospital. Lawyers representing the babies' families have been adamant that the convictions are safe and rejected the new experts' opinions. Two specialist consultant neonatologists, Dr Neil Aiton and Dr Svilena Dimitrova, produced a report for McDonald on a triplet who died at the hospital, anonymised at Letby's trial as Baby O. Davies said she was taken aback at the account of their report given at a press conference in December, that in trying to relieve swelling in the abdomen, a doctor had mistakenly inserted a needle with a cannula into the liver, and that this was a cause of the baby's death. Lee's panel has also said the needle may have penetrated the baby's liver. That medical procedure was considered at the trial, where the doctor who inserted the needle, the neonatal unit's clinical lead, Dr Stephen Brearey, said it was 'nowhere near' the liver. Prosecution medical experts argued that the procedure was not significant to the harm the baby suffered. Letby was found guilty of inflicting the liver damage, and injecting air into the baby's stomach and veins. In December, Davies noted from her original review that the hospital doctors had not reported the procedure involving the needle to the coroner's office. That meant it was not mentioned in the summary of circumstances surrounding the baby's death, sent by the coroner's office to the pathologist carrying out the post-mortem. In his postmortem report, the pathologist did identify bleeding from a rupture around the liver as the cause of Baby O's death, and said it had been caused by 'prematurity'. Davies said: 'I don't know why the hospital doctors didn't include the detail regarding the needle. 'I believe it could have made a difference to the post-mortem if it was highlighted. An inquest may well have been held, there may have been a finding that the baby died due to a medical procedure, and there may never have been a police investigation.' In her statement to the public inquiry chaired by Lady Justice Thirlwall, Davies explained that in early May 2017 she was asked to attend a 'Gold Group' meeting of senior Cheshire police officers, when they were considering whether to investigate the concerns raised by hospital doctors about Letby. The assistant chief constable, Darren Martland, asked Davies to review the post-mortems and records for the babies who had died, and provide an opinion the next morning. Senior coroner's officers lead teams investigating and collating evidence about deaths on behalf of coroners. Davies, who had undertaken specialist investigative training, had been promoted to senior coroner's officer in March 2017. In her review, Davies reported there were gaps in the explanations of how some babies had died. This was because some causes of death were quite general, including prematurity given for the rupture around Baby O's liver. 'I reported that there were missing jigsaw pieces, that the deaths of the babies hadn't been fully explained,' Davies says. '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.' Davies says her manager, then Det Insp Paul Hughes, who became the senior investigating officer, told her when passing her office one day that her review was one of the main reasons they decided to launch a criminal investigation. The case of Baby O became key to hardening the investigation into Letby. Cheshire police appointed Dr Dewi Evans, a retired paediatrician, as their medical expert. Evans has said the police showed him Baby O's medical notes at his first meeting, and within 10 minutes, he saw the liver damage and said it must have been inflicted deliberately. Davies says she was surprised when Letby was convicted, but she assumed the trial must have established the truth. In her Thirlwall statement, she cautioned that it had been a 'near miss', because the police were not going to investigate before her review. However, during the last six months, she has become increasingly concerned. 'The new experts' medical explanations make sense to me,' she says. 'They have filled the gaps I saw when I did my review – much more than the police and prosecution case against Lucy Letby. 'I stand by the review I did, because I reported that there were gaps. But I feel 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 lost her job at Cheshire police in 2023 after a different review she conducted, which challenged the outcomes of two murder investigations. She consulted a small number of experts to further her research, and her report was leaked to the Sunday Times – not by her – then widely reported in the media, including by the Guardian. Cheshire police pursued Davies for gross misconduct, alleging that she breached duties of confidentiality when she sent details to the experts. She resigned from the force before her disciplinary hearing. Responding to Davies' concerns about the Lucy Letby case, a Cheshire police spokesperson described Davies's former position as 'an administrative role within the Cheshire coroner's office' and said she was 'neither formally medically, nor legally trained'. '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,' the spokesperson said. 'Cheshire constabulary strongly refute the credibility of these claims.' Davies said the senior coroner's officer role was investigative, and rejected any suggestion that she was not well qualified for the work she did. Dewi Evans said he stood by the opinions he gave about Baby O. The hospital and Brearey declined to comment. The Guardian approached the solicitor representing the parents of the triplets, Babies O and P. He said that they did not wish to comment.
