A lawyer for child serial killer Lucy Letby has handed over medical reports to miscarriage of justice investigators as she battles to clear her name.
The former nurse, 35, is serving 15 whole life orders for the murder of seven infants and the attempted murder of seven others between June 2015 and June 2016 at the Countess of Chester Hospital, but has continued to protest her innocence.
On Thursday, her barrister Mark McDonald delivered the full findings of a 14-strong international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) headquarters in Birmingham.
Read case summaries on all babies featured in murder trial here
The panel, who announced their findings at a press conference in February, say poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for babies collapsing, concluding: “We did not find any murders.”
However, lawyers for the families of Letby’s victims last month rubbished the international panel’s findings as “full of analytical holes” and “a rehash” of the defence case heard at trial.
Mr McDonald also delivered a separate report from seven medics which claims the results of insulin tests on two infants, which a jury concluded Letby poisoned, were unreliable.
Their report summary concluded the jury was misled in a number of “important areas” including medical and evidential facts, and that key information on the insulin testing procedure was not submitted.
It added that the biomechanical test used in both cases “can give rise to falsely high insulin results” due to the presence of antibodies which can interfere with the outcome.
The authors said: “Our inescapable conclusion is that this evidence significantly undermines the validity of the assertions made about the insulin and C-peptide testing presented in court.”
Speaking of both reports, Mr McDonald said: “The fresh evidence totally undermines the prosecution case at trial.
“This is the largest international review of neonatal medicine ever undertaken, the results of which show Lucy Letby’s convictions are no longer safe.
“The conclusions of the report on Babies F and L clearly demonstrate that the case must go back to the Court of Appeal as a matter of urgency.”
The CCRC will review the application and decide whether to refer her case back to the Court of Appeal. Letby has already lost two bids last year to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal.
In November, Lady Justice Thirlwall is due to publish the findings from the public inquiry into how the former nurse was able to commit her crimes.
In written submissions to the inquiry, Richard Baker KC said grieving families of Letby’s victims were concerned that medical evidence was being presented by her lawyers at press conferences.
He added it “raises the obvious suspicion that the priority for Letby and her supporters is to generate maximum publicity for her cause rather than approaching the issues that form the basis of any appeal in a reasoned way”.
The mother of Child C told the inquiry: “The media PR campaign aimed to garner public sympathy for Letby demonstrates a complete lack of understanding for Letby’s crimes and the complexity of the case.
“The misinformed and inaccurate media circus surrounding this case, our son and the other babies is potentiating the distress of all of the families involved.”
Cheshire Constabulary is continuing a review of deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neonatal units of the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital during Letby’s time as a nurse from 2012 to 2016.
Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendant Paul Hughes said: “The investigation into the actions of Lucy Letby, the trial process and medical experts continues to face scrutiny and criticism, much of it ill-informed and based on a very partial knowledge of the facts and totality of evidence presented at court and at the Court of Appeal.
“This case has been rigorously and fairly tested through two juries and subsequently scrutinised by two sets of appeal court judges.
“Lucy Letby’s trial was one of the longest-running murder trials in British criminal history with the jury diligently carrying out their deliberations for more than 100 hours.
“As the case unfolded, multiple medical experts, specialising in areas of paediatric radiology, paediatric pathology, haematology, paediatric neurology and paediatric endocrinology and two main medical experts (consultant paediatricians) were enlisted to ensure that we carried out as thorough an investigation as possible.
“All are highly regarded in their area of expertise and were cross-examined whilst giving their evidence in court.
“The details of the case are clear and have been widely reported on.”
He went on: “It is out of a deep sense of respect for the parents of the babies that we have not and will not get drawn into the widespread commentary and speculation online and in the media. They have suffered greatly and continue to do so as this case plays out in a very public forum.
“Cheshire Constabulary is ready to support the CCRC and any appropriate review processes in order to inform any questions that may arise.”
