Around 200 nurses and health professionals gathered to show their support for Lucy Letby yesterday amid growing calls for an independent review into her conviction.
The medical staff, from hospitals across the UK, met in Sheffield at a conference held by campaign group Nineteen Nurses to discuss mounting fears that Letby, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in August 2023 for the murder of seven newborn babies and the attempted murder of six more, is a victim of a grave miscarriage of justice.
Support for the neonatal nurse’s innocence has been boosted by the Mail on Sunday’s Peter Hitchens and recent television documentary series which questioned her guilt, including ITV’s Beyond Reasonable Doubt.
Further evidence presented by a panel of 14 scientists and medical experts argues many of the deaths can be explained by natural causes.
Letby’s legal team has passed new evidence to the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
If it believes there may have been a miscarriage of justice, it can refer her case to the Court of Appeal – a move also supported by the Nineteen Nurses group.
Yesterday, Viv Blondek, a retired nurse and founder member of Nineteen Nurses, told the conference: ‘We are a profession in fear. Patients are the priority, but we have seen an erosion of our duty of candour because of a fear of being scapegoated.
‘This scapegoating culture creates a defensive, fearful work environment which seeks out individuals to blame rather than systemic failure, always looking for someone to punish.
Medical staff from hospitals across the UK met in Sheffield at a conference held by campaign group Nineteen Nurses to discuss mounting fears that Lucy Letby (pictured) is a victim of a grave miscarriage of justice
Letby pictured being arrested at her home in Chester on July 3, 2018
‘If you look at how air accidents are investigated – specialist teams are brought in with technical knowledge to look for a reason for the accident, not someone to blame.
‘But we allow police to investigate our incidents, without any of the relevant expertise.’
Another founder member, who declined to be identified for fear of reprisals from those who remain convinced of Letby’s guilt, told those gathered: ‘There are at least two other nurses in prison whose convictions are unsafe.
‘We very much hope that the CCRC will be quick to refer Lucy’s case back to the Court of Appeal.’
Letby’s team has asked for the Thirlwall Inquiry into the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester hospital to be paused pending the outcome of the CCRC review.
Prosecutors are also said to be considering additional charges against Letby relating to other infant deaths and ‘non-fatal collapses’.
Jim Thornton, former professor of obstetrics at Nottingham University and a key supporter of Lucy Letby’s case as a miscarriage of justice, also expressed concerns that the notes about the mothers of the babies who either died or who Letby was accused of trying to kill weren’t made available to the court. ‘This is something that should have happened.
‘When Lucy Letby’s case returns to the court of appeal, the CCRC must obtain all copies of all maternal notes.’
Some of the mothers had chronic health and birth problems, added Prof Thornton, but the jury never knew any of these details.
Letby was sentenced to life imprisonment in August 2023 for the murder of seven newborn babies and the attempted murder of six more
Meanwhile, also backing the nurses’ campaign is Amanda Jenkinson, who was herself wrongfully convicted of attempting to murder a patient and spent five years in prison.
Jenkinson, now 66, was alleged to have tried to kill 67-year-old Kathleen Temple in 1993 at Bassetlaw District General Hospital in Nottinghamshire by tampering with a ventilator, and of attempting to kill other patients, leading to her being christened the ‘Angel of Death II’ after killer nurse Beverly Allitt.
But she was released from prison in 1999 and had her conviction quashed in 2004 over ‘flawed’ trial evidence.
Speaking exclusively to the Mail on Sunday, Ms Jenkinson, who remains so scarred by her experience that she is scared to go out in public, said: ‘No-one from the NHS or the criminal justice system has ever expressed any regret for what I went through. Being wrongly accused has devastated my whole being. I will never, ever recover.
‘People think there’s no smoke without fire, even after you’re cleared.
‘I don’t know if Lucy Letby is innocent or not, but I fear she is being treated exactly as I was, and that she was regarded as guilty before she had any chance to defend herself.
‘All these years later, and it’s still happening.’
Jean Gray was the editor of Nursing Standard magazine when Ms Jenkinson was convicted and supported her throughout her bid for freedom, said: ‘If this kind of thing happens in any other profession, it can be serious, but in nursing it can mean life or death.
‘Lives like Amanda’s, someone who became a nurse to care for others, are wrecked.’
Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the campaign told the MoS: ‘There is a culture of fear in the NHS now, and it’s toxic.
‘The duty of candour we had, which once allowed nurses to report problems and issues has been eroded.
‘Nurses are too frightened of being the next Lucy Letby if they speak out. Lucy was an absolute stickler for doing things by the book.
‘If there was an issue with something, she didn’t hold back. Lucy would be the first to knock on a manager’s door. Now, nurses are too worried.’
