An investigation set to begin in the UK will inspect how Lucy Letby, a former nurse, managed to murder infants at a neonatal unit over a span of two years. The 34-year-old woman was handed five whole-life sentences for her crimes after being found guilty of killing seven newborns and attempting to murder seven others over the course of two different trials.
The investigation will kick off on Tuesday at Liverpool’s town hall and will dive into events that occurred within the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital, where Letby worked from 2015 to 2016. Even before her arrest, consultants regularly expressed concerns about Letby as numerous unexplained deaths had occurred.
Tamlin Bolton, a senior associate solicitor at Switalskis, representing the victims’ families, expressed that the grim reality of the case had caused unimaginable suffering for the families Switalskis was representing. The families lost their babies due to Letby’s atrocious actions in 2015 and 2016.
Bolton pointed out that these families would be listening to evidence about how Letby managed to harm as many as 18 infants prior to her removal from the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit, in the inquiry for the first time. Bolton highlighted that the issues raised by this investigation are not only immaterial to families that have accessed the NHS’s maternity and paediatric services, but also to the general public that relies on the safety of patients.
Led by Lady Justice Thirlwall, a senior judge at the Court of Appeal, the inquiry will evaluate the experiences of the parents who lost their children to Letby, scrutinise the behaviour of the hospital staff, and assess if suspicions about Letby should have been alerted earlier. It will also question if the former nurse should have been suspended sooner and if authorities should have been involved earlier.
Lucy Letby, a former nurse in the UK, is currently serving 15 life sentences after being convicted for the murder and attempted murder of 14 infants under her care between 2015 and 2016. Her case, dismissed by the Court of Appeal during the summer season, continues to evoke mixed feelings, with some suggesting that she was erroneously condemned based on circumstantial evidence. This view was somewhat made prominent by surprising interventions made on her behalf, such as one by David Davis, a former Brexit Secretary, on Good Morning Britain the previous week. The victim’s families, however, are expressing disappointment, asserting that certain aspects of the 10-month trial have been misrepresented and fuelled with inaccurate information. The key question remains, why exactly do Letby’s advocates believe she deserves freedom? This question was put to David James Smith, an investigator of unjust convictions who also served on the UK’s Criminal Cases Review Commission from 2013 to 2018.
A comprehensive examination looking into the NHS culture and its management’s effectiveness and governance is set to commence, with a timeframe of roughly four months and a resultant report expected next year. This group, comprising some of the UK’s prominent neonatal experts and statistics professors, has raised concerns about the safety of the convictions of the neonatal nurse, urging the UK government to either delay or amend the conditions of a public inquiry.
The group, in a confidential letter to the ministers that the Guardian was able to access, expressed fears that the inquiry’s specific terms may impede understanding the potential negligent deaths deemed as murder cases in the neonatal ward of the Countess of Chester hospital. In response to the reports challenging Letby’s convictions, legal representatives have noted that they have caused distress for the victims’ families. In the words of Ms. Bolton on BBC Breakfast, “it’s been exceptionally distressing for all of the families that I stand for.”
The case’s review reported an incident where a witness was assaulted by a member of the public advocating for Letby’s innocence. In statement by Cheshire police, as reported by the Guardian, they confirmed awareness of the assault and confirmed they were looking into it.