Child serial killer Lucy Letby denied retrial over conviction for attempted murder of baby girl
24 October 2024, 12:55 | Updated: 24 October 2024, 13:06
Serial killer Lucy Letby has been denied a retrial after her latest attempt to challenge her most recent conviction was thrown out by the Court of Appeal.
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The killer nurse, branded Britain's most prolific serial killer, was refused the right to challenge her conviction for the attempted murder of a baby girl on Thursday.
Letby, 34, is currently serving 15 whole life orders for the death of the infants in her care.
The former nurse's lawyers had asked senior judges for approval to appeal against her most recent conviction, after being found guilty following a retrial in July of attempting to kill a newborn known as Child K.
On Thursday, lawyers for the former nurse told the Court of Appeal that the attempted murder charge should have been "stayed" as an "abuse of process" due to "overwhelming and irremediable prejudice" caused by media coverage of her first trial, and that the retrial should not have gone ahead.
But three senior judges dismissed Letby's bid following the hearing in London.
Lord Justice William Davis, sitting with Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mrs Justice McGowan, said at the start of their ruling that they would "refuse permission" for Letby to challenge the conviction.
Letby, 34, was previously sentenced to 14 whole life orders for the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others, with two attempts on one child, and was sentenced to a 15th whole life term for the attack on Child K.
Thursday's ruling marks Letby's second appeal bid to be thrown out, after the Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge against her first set of convictions in May.has context menu
Court officials confirmed today that Britain’s most prolific killer of children will bring an appeal against her conviction of attempted murder in July.
The appeal hearing will take place on October 24, court listings revealed today.
Read more: Dad refused to hand over dying son to killer nurse Lucy Letby who 'savoured son’s dying moments'
Letby, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.
Earlier this year, judges rejected her bid to challenge these conventions.
Two months later, in July, Levity was sentenced to an additional whole-life order for the attempted murder of a baby girl after a retrial at Manchester Crown Court in June and July.
The identities of the surviving children can not be revealed due to reporting restrictions.
This week, the parents of a baby murdered by Letby have told how the nurse attempted to "savour their son's dying moments for herself".
The fresh claims come amid the ongoing public inquiry into how the killer nurse continued to practice at the Countess of Chester Hospital - despite concerns being flagged to hospital bosses.
The parents of Letby's third victim, Child C, emotionally recounted how they hugged their dying son after being told that he could not be saved.
The child's father told the inquiry: "Reflecting on it now, I think she [Letby] was trying to savour my son’s dying moments for herself, which fills me with both emotion and anger, had I not challenged her she would have further intruded on our private goodbye."
The parents told the inquiry that they had been "kept her in the dark" when it came to their child's death - most notably by the hospital's medical director.
It comes as the mother of Child C, murdered by Letby, demanded a face-to-face apology from the hospital medical director.
