The inquiry’s validity is questioned as former hospital executives seek to halt proceedings based on fresh evidence.
Former Executives Demand Inquiry Suspension Amid New Evidence in Letby Case
Former Executives Demand Inquiry Suspension Amid New Evidence in Letby Case
New developments in evidence challenge the legitimacy of the inquiry into Lucy Letby’s crimes.
Former executives at the Countess of Chester Hospital in the UK have formally requested a judge-led inquiry into the murders committed by nurse Lucy Letby be paused, citing new findings that allegedly call her guilt into doubt. During a session of the inquiry, lawyer Kate Blackwell, representing the former executives, asserted that recent insights imply that the tragic deaths and medical collapses of several infants between 2015 and 2016 may not have resulted from deliberate harm. Instead, she suggested that they could be attributed to inadequate clinical management or natural causes.
Blackwell emphasized that continuing the inquiry without taking these potential alternative explanations into account would undermine its fundamental purpose, which is to comprehensively and impartially uncover the circumstances surrounding the infant fatalities. Ms. Letby, convicted in two trials in 2023 and 2024 of murdering and attempting to murder 14 infants, has consistently claimed her innocence. The public inquiry was initiated by Britain’s health secretary after her conviction, aiming to explore how the perpetrator could evade detection for such an extended period.
The inquiry's initial direction relied significantly on the presumption of Letby’s guilt, despite mounting skepticism about the validity of her convictions, sparked by a detailed article in the New Yorker and analysis from numerous statisticians and medical professionals. Recently, a separate independent panel of neonatal experts reported that it found no evidence supporting claims of Letby actively harming any of the infants, asserting that the deaths and injuries resulted instead from either natural causes or medical mismanagement.
Blackwell emphasized that continuing the inquiry without taking these potential alternative explanations into account would undermine its fundamental purpose, which is to comprehensively and impartially uncover the circumstances surrounding the infant fatalities. Ms. Letby, convicted in two trials in 2023 and 2024 of murdering and attempting to murder 14 infants, has consistently claimed her innocence. The public inquiry was initiated by Britain’s health secretary after her conviction, aiming to explore how the perpetrator could evade detection for such an extended period.
The inquiry's initial direction relied significantly on the presumption of Letby’s guilt, despite mounting skepticism about the validity of her convictions, sparked by a detailed article in the New Yorker and analysis from numerous statisticians and medical professionals. Recently, a separate independent panel of neonatal experts reported that it found no evidence supporting claims of Letby actively harming any of the infants, asserting that the deaths and injuries resulted instead from either natural causes or medical mismanagement.
