Lucy Letby’s lawyer has said she is ‘very much engaged’ with her bid to prove her innocence, as she closely follows the public inquiry into her case from a prison cell.
Child killer Letby’s last hope to prove her innocence and show herself as a victim of a miscarriage of justice hinges on new evidence, to be presented on Tuesday, her lawyers have said.
On Tuesday, retired neonatologist Dr Shoo Lee will reveal details of an independent review into the causes of death and non-fatal collapses of the children she is accused of hurting.
Letby’s barrister, Mark McDonald, said she had been following developments closely from her prison cell in HMP Bronzefield, Surrey, and was ‘very much engaged with everything that is going on’.
He said she maintains her innocence, adding: ‘This international panel is her final hope to show that what she has been saying all along is right.’
Independent reviewers are preparing to look into claims Letby is the victim of a miscarriage of justice, it emerged yesterday.
Three members of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) are familiarising themselves with the case ahead of a formal application being lodged – although this is not thought to have happened yet.
Tomorrow, the former neo-natal nurse’s defence team is expected to outline details of an independent review by a ‘blue-ribbon committee’ of 14 international medical experts into the seven murders and eight attempted murders of babies in her care.
Lucy Letby is serving 15 whole life terms in jail for harming the babies while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016
Dr Shoo Lee (pictured) president of the Canadian Neo-natal Foundation, is expected to say that none of the babies should have been diagnosed with air embolism because it is a ‘very rare and specific condition’
In August 2023, Letby was convicted of seven murders and seven attempted murders – including attempting to harm the same baby twice
The 35-year-old is serving 15 whole life terms in jail for harming the babies while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016.
Letby appointed criminal defence and human rights barrister Mark McDonald in September – and a fresh challenge to her conviction was announced in December. A source close to the case questioned why, if the evidence of the 14 experts was so compelling, Mr McDonald was briefing journalists and holding a press conference instead of applying for a review of the case.
‘It seems an odd tactic to place everything in the public domain before making a formal application to the CCRC,’ the source said.
Among the experts speaking at tomorrow’s press conference is Dr Shoo Lee, author of a 1989 academic paper used by the prosecution to explain how Letby killed babies by injecting them with air.
Dr Lee, president of the Canadian Neo-natal Foundation, is expected to say that none of the babies should have been diagnosed with air embolism because it is a ‘very rare and specific condition’, The Sunday Times reported.
The prosecution in Letby’s case claimed skin discolouration on the babies’ bodies was evidence of air embolism – but Dr Lee said the type of discolouration did not match ‘specific’ tell-tale patterns he identified.
The expert also said that skin discolouration was a factor in only about 10 per cent of air embolism cases, whereas in the case of Letby’s victims it was present in nine of the 17 babies she was accused of harming.
In August 2023, Letby was convicted of seven murders and seven attempted murders – including attempting to harm the same baby twice. She was then convicted of a further attempted murder last July after a retrial.
Letby appointed criminal defence and human rights barrister Mark McDonald (pictured) in September – and a fresh challenge to her conviction was announced in December
The decision to establish a team to consider the case was revealed at a meeting of the CCRC board. The minutes of a meeting last September read: ‘The commission had yet to receive an application on behalf of Ms Letby, although one was expected.
‘Given the likely complexity of the review, a senior case review manager, group leader and nominated decision maker had been assigned and preliminary reading and familiarisation was under way. The team would be expanded once the application was received.’
Yesterday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper dodged questions about the case when interviewed by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
Asked if she had ‘complete confidence’ in how the case was investigated and prosecuted, Ms Cooper said: ‘I think it would be inappropriate for me to be commenting on the detail of an individual case.’
A CCRC spokesman said: ‘We have not had any application from Ms Letby or her legal team but cannot comment further.’
Mr McDonald said last night he had been waiting for the reports from Dr Lee – which he described as a ‘game changer’ – and those of the other experts before applying to the CCRC.
