The public inquiry into the deaths blamed on Lucy Letby should take into account doubts over the safety of her conviction, a former Cabinet minister has said.
Former Brexit secretary David Davis has written to Lady Justice Thirlwall, the chair of the upcoming inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester Hospital, raising concerns that the terms of the probe depend on the presumption that Ms Letby’s conviction was safe.
Increasing numbers of experts have expressed concerns about the case, and there is mounting disquiet within the NHS and the legal profession about the possibility that Letby could have been scapegoated for NHS failings.
In his letter, Sir David argues the terms of reference for the inquiry should be broad enough to consider alternative explanations for the deaths and admit evidence to address the concerns now being raised about the safety of Ms Letby’s conviction.
Pictured: Lucy Letby who was given a whole life order for killing babies in a neonatal unit
David Davis MP speaking to the media outside the Royal Courts Of Justice in London in March
Explaining that he has had ‘a multitude of experts contact me to express their concerns’, Sir David writes: ‘These experts range from Nobel laureates to heads of royal societies and royal colleges, and other prominent experts in medicine, statistics, forensic science and healthcare.
‘At the very least I believe the terms of reference for your inquiry should be broadened so as to not depend on the presumption that Ms Letby’s conviction was safe.’
He adds: ‘The deaths may not have been caused by murder, but rather the result of a systemic failure in a unit that was overstretched and underfunded.
‘Secondly, the deaths may have been caused by bad management of vulnerable neo-natal babies in the unit… thirdly, the deaths may have been caused by external factors, including infections such as a pseudomonas outbreak that the hospital was reported to be struggling to contain at the time of the deaths.’
Increasing numbers of experts have expressed concerns about the case, and there is mounting disquiet about the possibility that Letby could have been scapegoated for NHS failings
Supporters of ex-nurse Lucy Letby demonstrate outside the High Court in London during her appeal hearing
Sir David is planning to spearhead a Commons campaign raising questions about the conviction.
Mail columnists Peter Hitchens and Nadine Dorries have highlighted that Letby was convicted of the murders of seven newborns and the attempted murders of six other infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital despite the fact that no one saw her kill, or attempt to kill, a baby and there is no forensic evidence to prove her guilt.
Two prosecution witnesses basing their views on a 30-year-old research paper suggested that Letby murdered babies by injecting them with air through their feeding tubes. But the academic who wrote the paper was not called as a prosecution witness and has since cast doubt on his work being used in the trial.