A solicitor representing the families of victims of Lucy Letby has said that speculation about her guilt has been “upsetting” for her clients ahead of a public inquiry into the hospital where she worked.
The former nurse was convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of seven others, with two attempts on one child, when she worked on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
She is currently serving 15 whole-life orders, making her the fourth woman in UK history to be told she will never be released from prison.
In May, she lost her Court of Appeal bid to challenge her convictions from last year.
But Letby’s new barrister Mark McDonald last week claimed there was a “strong case” that she was innocent, saying that new medical evidence and expert opinion had revealed “flaws” which undermined the prosecution.
He said that he would be asking the Criminal Cases Review Commission for Letby’s case to be sent back to the Court of Appeal “on fresh evidence”.
Tamlin Bolton, a solicitor representing the families of six of Letby’s victims, told BBC Breakfast: “I can't stress enough how upsetting that has been for all of the families that I represent.
“And they have thought about so many ways in which they can try to address that and deal with it and make sure they put their voice across. But of course they're restricted by wanting to keep themselves confidential and private.
“So it's a really difficult challenge for them to try and avoid social media, avoid the reporting about it.”
She added: “When you have children that are now eight or nine years old, they are looking at TikTok, they're looking at social media and there are people claiming that the harm that was caused to them or their sibling was not caused by somebody who's been found guilty of those crimes by a jury and whose appeals have been exhausted, and the Court of Appeal have also said she remains guilty of these crimes.”
A public inquiry examining events at the Countess of Chester Hospital following Letby’s multiple convictions is due to begin on Tuesday in Liverpool.
Ms Bolton said it was important to highlight that this was focussed on the “duty of candour” between patients and hospitals, rather than the criminal convictions “which are final”.
The inquiry will look at “the role of a number of different bodies and how they interplay with patient safety in the hospital and it’s looking at governance”, she added.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Sunday dismissed calls to free Letby as “crass and insensitive”.
He told LBC: “It is crass and insensitive to be waging a public campaign in this way. Because we can debate it, you and I, listeners can debate it, we can read the newspapers.
“We’re not the Criminal Case Review Board. We have an independent judiciary in this country, I think we have a fair and successful independent judiciary in this country.”
