Lucy Letby medical experts find ‘NO evidence of murder’
Nurse was found guilty of murdering seven babies
Holly Christodoulou, Digital Court Editor
Published: 10:06, 4 Feb 2025Updated: 13:19, 4 Feb 2025
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LUCY Letby medical experts today claimed they found "no evidence" of murder and instead blamed the babies' deaths on hospital errors.
The killer nurse is serving 15 whole-life orders for murdering seven babies in a year-long reign of terror.
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Mugshot of Lucy Letby.
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Lucy Letby was found guilty of murdering seven babiesCredit: PA
Letby, 34, also tried to kill seven others - including one baby twice - at Countess of Chester Hospital.
Today, a "blue riband committee” of 14 neonatalogists claimed they found "no murders" after going through the evidence at a press conference in London.
Lawyers for Letby revealed before the hearing that they have submitted an application to the independent Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) citing a miscarriage of justice.
The CCRC will now investigate whether the case should be sent to the Court of Appeal, who are the only ones that can overturn a conviction.
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Tory former minister Sir David Davis is chairing today's panel, while the nurse's barrister, Mark McDonald, is also present.
Sir David, the MP for Goole and Pocklington, wants a retrial for Letby and said he believes it will clear her of any wrongdoing.
He began today's proceedings by saying the experts will "put right what I think is one of the major injustices of modern times".
Among those on today's panel are retired medic Dr Shoo Lee, who co-authored a 1989 academic paper on air embolism in babies, which featured prominently in Letby’s trial.
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His work was used to support the theory that the nurse killed some of the children by injecting them with air.
Dr Lee has previously claimed his findings on skin discolouration was "misrepresented" in court and that the evidence "wasn't quite right".
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He said he recently updated his academic paper and found no cases of skin discolouration linked to air embolism by the venous system, as was said during the trial.
Speaking today, he told the press conference: "In summary, ladies and gentlemen, we did not find any murders.
"There was no medical evidence to support malfeasance causing death or injury in any of the 17 cases in the trial.
"Death or injury of all the affected infants were due either to natural causes or to errors in medical care.
"There were serious problems related to medical care of patients at this hospital."
The retired doctor told the hearing that one of the babies actually died from thrombosis and not air embolism.
Thrombosis is a condition where a blood clot forms in a blood vessel - blocking blood flow.
Dr Lee also told the hearing that another baby was said to have collapsed when air was injected into them.
Prosecutors said the air embolism resulted in "patchy discolouration of the skin and death".
The medic said today: "I would like to just repeat what I said earlier, that there is no evidence that air embolism through the veins results in patchy discolourisation of the skin.
"So let's just dismiss that, that's not a consideration."
Dr. Shoo Lee speaking at a press conference.
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Dr Shoo Lee is chairing today's panelCredit: PA
The panel also heard one baby girl's death was preventable and that there was no evidence of an air embolism.
Dr Lee suggested medics caring for her failed to respond timely to a bacterial infection with antibiotics.
He also concluded the child died from respiratory complications, with no evidence of air embolism.
Jurors heard Letby used insulin and air to inject newborns while working on the neo-natal ward and dislodged their breathing tubes.
But Dr Lee said in the case of one baby, there was "no proof" their tube was dislodged.
Instead, the youngster's deterioration was caused by the use of an undersized tube, he added.
Letby's barrister Mark McDonald described today's evidence as a "game-changer" and vowed to bring the case back to the Court of Appeal "by the summer".
The neo-natal nurse has so far lost two bids to appeal against her convictions at the court.
What happens with Lucy Letby now?
LUCY Letby's team today issued a fresh appeal against her convictions - this time to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).The CCRC is an independent body that investigates potential miscarriages of justice.They will examine Letby's case and decide whether it reaches the threshold for a miscarriage of justice.If so, the case will be referred to the Court of Appeal - the only court that can overturn a conviction or sentence.It can order a retrial in cases where a judge has made an error.Any case sent for appeal must be heard by the courts but there is no guarantee the convictions will be quashed.The CCRC has warned the investigation will take some time to complete.For the CCRC to be able to refer a case, there would need to be new information that may have changed the outcome of the case if the jury had known about it.Letby has already lost two bids to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal.
Her latest in October was over her most recent conviction for the attempted murder of a baby girl.
The killer declared "I'm innocent" as she was handed another life order in July after the retrial.
Jurors heard how she tried to kill Baby K by dislodging her breathing tube less than two hours after she was born.
Baby K was transported to Arrowe Park Hospital and sadly died three days later - although prosecutors do not believe the nurse caused her death.
Letby became only the fourth woman ever to be handed whole life tariff after Rose West, Joanna Dennehy and Myra Hindley when she was sentenced.
She was originally convicted of seven counts of murder in August last year following a nine-month trial and 22 days of jury deliberation.
During her trial, prosecutors argued the collapses and deaths of the children were not “naturally-occurring tragedies” and instead the gruesome work of “poisoner” Letby.
Her rampage was finally uncovered after staff grew suspicious of the "significant rise" in the number of babies dying or suffering "catastrophic" collapses.
Letby was found to be the "common denominator" among the horrifying incidents.
A public inquiry into how Letby was able to commit her crimes began in September, with closing legal submissions expected in March.
The findings of Lady Justice Thirlwall are expected to be published this autumn.
A probe into whether Letby harmed any other babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women's Hospital is ongoing.
Letby has been interviewed at HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, under caution in relation to the ongoing investigation.
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 G, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby targeted the baby girl by overfeeding her with milk and pushing air down her feeding tube. COUNT 7 GUILTY, COUNT 8 GUILTY, COUNT 9 NOT GUILTY.Child H, two allegations of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby sabotaged the care of the baby girl in some way which led to two profound oxygen desaturations. COUNT 10 NOT GUILTY, COUNT 11 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.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 J, allegation of attempted murder. No specific form of harm was identified by the prosecution but they said Letby did something to cause the collapse of the baby girl. COUNT 13 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.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, GUILTY AFTER RETRIALChild 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.
A spokesperson for the CCRC said: "We are aware that there has been a great deal of speculation and commentary surrounding Lucy Letby's case, much of it from parties with only a partial view of the evidence.
"We ask that everyone remembers the families affected by events at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
"We have received a preliminary application in relation to Ms Letby's case, and work has begun to assess the application. We anticipate further submissions being made to us.
"It is not for the CCRC to determine innocence or guilt in a case, that's a matter for the courts.
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