Lucy Letby: Expert panel gives alternative causes of death in several cases

Published

3 months ago

February 4, 2025

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A panel of international medical experts has given alternative causes of death in several cases against Lucy Letby.

Retired neonatologist Dr Shoo Lee, who co-authored an academic paper on air embolisms (bubbles) in babies in 1989 which featured prominently in the trial, chaired a panel of 14 experts to compile an “impartial evidence-based report”.

Dr Lee said he believed his findings on skin mottling were misinterpreted by the prosecution. He said in a new paper he published in December 2024 there were no cases of skin discolouration when air was injected into the veins.

At her trial in 2023, prosecutors pointed to skin discolouration in several of the victims as evidence that air had been injected into their veins by Letby.

“The notion that these cases are air embolism because they collapsed and because there were skin rashes has no basis in evidence. Let’s be clear about that,” Dr Lee said.

Lucy Letby latest: Experts reveal ‘new medical evidence’ questioning nurse’s guilt

The panel laid out alternative causes of death in many of the cases, including natural causes and poor medical care at Countess of Chester Hospital.

“We did not find any murders,” Dr Lee said. “In all cases, death or injury were due to natural causes or just bad medical care.”

Asked about the Countess of Chester Hospital, Dr Lee, a retired medic from Canada, said: “I would say if this was a hospital in Canada, it would be shut down. It would not be happening.”

Sky News has approached the Countess of Chester Hospital for comment.

Minutes before the conference began, the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, announced it would review Letby’s case after receiving an application from her lawyers on Monday.

Opening the press conference, MP Sir David Davis described Letby’s convictions as “one of the major injustices of modern times”.

Findings will be earth-shattering for babies’ parents

This must have been one of the most distressing mornings for the grieving parents of the babies who died in Chester.

A 10-month trial concluded their new borns were murdered by Lucy Letby.

Now they have been presented with a body of evidence gathered by some of the world’s leading neonatal experts that could and probably will put some doubt against her conviction.

Every single baby’s death has been forensically analysed: the allegations presented in court with the circumstances of each death against what the panel claims are the clinical facts in the case.

Dr Shoo Lee, the panel chair, approached Letby’s lawyers following her conviction in 2023. He was convinced his 1989 paper on neonatal deaths used as evidence in the case against Letby had been misinterpreted.

The team he has assembled to examine each death is a world leader in their own respective field.

For parents learning today these experts believe some of the baby deaths were preventable and not the result of a serial killer nurse will come as nothing less than earth-shattering.

This expert panel review of each case, if true, could point to yet another systemic failure of NHS maternity care.

But now it will be for the Criminal Cases Review Commission to decide if Letby’s case is investigated as a potential miscarriage of justice.

Letby, 35, the UK’s most prolific child killer of modern times, is serving fifteen whole life terms in prison after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.

Various methods were used to attack the babies while the defendant worked as a nurse on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

One method was air being injected into the bloodstream which caused an air embolism, blocking the bloody supply and leading to sudden and unexpected collapses.

Last year Letby lost two bids to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal – in May for seven murders and seven attempted murders, and in October for the attempted murder of a baby girl, which she was convicted of by a different jury at a retrial.

In December, the former nurse’s barrister, Mark McDonald, said he would seek permission from the Court of Appeal to re-open her case on the grounds Dr Dewi Evans, the lead prosecution medical expert at her trial, was “not reliable”.

Dr Evans, a retired consultant paediatrician, said concerns regarding his evidence were “unsubstantiated, unfounded, inaccurate”.

In September a public inquiry into how Letby was able to commit her crimes began hearing evidence. Closing legal submissions are expected in March and the findings are expected to be published this autumn.

Detectives from Cheshire Constabulary are also continuing their review of the care of some 4,000 babies admitted to the Countess of Chester Hospital from January 2012 to the end of June 2016, while Letby worked as a neonatal nurse, there. It also includes two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital in 2012 and 2015.

Letby has been interviewed under caution at HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, in relation to the ongoing investigation into baby deaths and non-fatal collapses.

She maintains her innocence.

UK

League table of foreign criminals awaiting deportation and their offences set to be published

Published

6 hours ago

April 22, 2025

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League table of foreign criminals awaiting deportation and their offences set to be published

A league table of foreign criminals and their offences is set to be published for the first time.

The plans, due to be announced on Tuesday, will reportedly focus on those offenders awaiting deportation from the UK.

The latest data shows there were 19,244 foreign offenders awaiting deportation at the end of 2024, a rise from 17,907 when the Conservatives left office in July and 14,640 at the end of 2022.

Despite more offenders being deported since Labour came to power, the number waiting to be removed from the UK has been growing.

Factors are understood to include the early release of inmates due to prison overcrowding, instability and diplomatic problems in some countries and a backlog of legal cases appealing deportation.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the decision to publish the nationalities of foreign criminals showed Labour had “buckled” under pressure from the Conservatives to disclose the data.

The latest government statistics show there were 10,355 foreign nationals held in custody in England and Wales at the end of 2024, representing 12% of the prison population.

The most common nationalities after British nationals were Albanian (11%), Polish (8%), Romanian (7%), which also represented the top three nationalities who were deported from the UK in 2024, according to Home Office figures.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is understood to have ordered officials to release the details by the end of the year, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The newspaper reported Ms Cooper overruled Home Office officials, who previously claimed it was too difficult to provide quality data on foreign criminals.

A Home Office source said: “Not only are we deporting foreign criminals at a rate never seen when Chris Philp and Robert Jenrick were in charge at the Home Office, but we will also be publishing far more information about that cohort of offenders than the Tories ever did.”

The source added that ministers wanted “to ensure the public is kept better informed about the number of foreign criminals awaiting deportation, where they are from and the crimes they have committed”.

In March, the government announced £5m in funding to deploy staff to 80 jails in England and Wales to speed up the deportation of foreign offenders.

Foreign nationals sentenced to 12 months or more in prison are subject to automatic deportation, but the home secretary can also remove criminals if their presence in the UK is not considered desirable.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick welcomed the news, saying: “We will finally see the hard reality that mass migration is fuelling crime across our country… Frankly, the public deserved to know this [detail on foreign criminals] long ago.”

UK

Rachel Reeves to head to Washington amid hopes of US trade deal

Published

9 hours ago

April 22, 2025

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Rachel Reeves to head to Washington amid hopes of US trade deal

Rachel Reeves will pledge to “stand up for Britain’s national interest” as she heads to Washington DC amid hopes of a UK/US trade deal.

The chancellor will fly to the US capital for her spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the first of which began on Sunday.

During her three-day visit, Ms Reeves is set to hold meetings with G7, G20 and IMF counterparts about the changing global economy and is expected to make the case for open trade.

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Her visit comes after Donald Trump imposed blanket 10% tariffs on all imports into the US, including from the UK, and as talks about reaching a trade deal intensified.

The chancellor will also hold her first in-person meeting with her US counterpart, treasury secretary Scott Bessent, about striking a new trade agreement, which the UK hopes will take the sting out of Mr Trump’s tariffs.

In addition to the 10% levy on all goods imported to America from the UK, Mr Trump enacted a 25% levy on car imports.

Ms Reeves will also be hoping to encourage fellow European finance ministers to increase their defence spending and discuss the best ways to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Speaking ahead of her visit, Ms Reeves said: “The world has changed, and we are in a new era of global trade. I am in no doubt that the imposition of tariffs will have a profound impact on the global economy and the economy at home.

“This changing world is unsettling for families who are worried about the cost of living and businesses concerned about what tariffs will mean for them. But our task as a government is not to be knocked off course or to take rash action which risks undermining people’s security.

“Instead, we must rise to meet the moment and I will always act to defend British interests as part of our plan for change.

“We need a world economy that provides stability and fairness for businesses wanting to invest and trade, more trade and global partnerships between nations with shared interests, and security for working people who want to get on with their lives.”

UK

Murder arrest after woman stabbed to death in Enfield – as victim named

Published

15 hours ago

April 21, 2025

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Murder arrest after woman stabbed to death in Enfield - as victim named

A woman who was stabbed to death in north London has been named by police – as a man was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Pamela Munro, 45, was found with a stab wound and died at the scene in Ayley Croft, Enfield, on Saturday evening, the Metropolitan Police said.

A 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder on Monday and is in custody, the force added.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil John said: “Investigating officers have worked relentlessly across the weekend to investigate the circumstances around Pamela’s death.

“We continue to support her family who are understandably devastated.”

The Met Police has asked anyone with information or who was driving through Ayley Court between 6.30pm and 7.30pm on Saturday and may have dashcam footage to contact the force.