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Lucy Letby lawyer insists 'no crime was committed' after panel of medical experts find 'no murders' in case
4 February 2025, 20:00
The criminal barrister representing Lucy Letby has insisted that “no crime was committed” after a panel of medical experts claimed they found “no murders” in her case.
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Letby, 35, from Hereford, was convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of seven others, with two attempts on one child, when she worked on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
After two trials, she is serving 15 whole-life orders, making her only the fourth woman in UK history to be told she will never be released from prison.
But her lawyers are now calling for her case to be investigated over a “miscarriage of justice” after presenting “significant new evidence” on Tuesday, claiming a number of the babies involved died by other means.
Lawyer claims serial killer Lucy Letby did not commit any murders | Watch in full
Letby’s criminal barrister Mark McDonald has told LBC: “Of all the miscarriages of justice cases I’ve dealt with in 25 years, I’ve never had more experts contact me and say: ‘We think something has gone wrong and we would like to work pro bono to assist.’
“I’m not just talking the local GP type expert, I’m talking about international experts.
He added: “The conclusion of today, after we'd gone through everything in fine detail, was that no murders happened.
“No crime was committed and the panel took the view that everything could be explained by poor care, failure to recognise something, or failure to treat something.”
Mr McDonald said that statisticians and other experts who he has consulted have also said that evidence used in the initial trials were "not reliable".
Various methods were used to attack the babies while Letby 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.
On Tuesday, retired neonatologist Dr Shoo Lee, who co-authored an academic paper on air embolisms (bubbles) in babies in 1989 which featured prominently during her trial, chaired the panel of 14 experts to compile an "impartial evidence-based report".
Dr Lee said he believed his findings on skin mottling had been misinterpreted by the prosecution.
He said in a new paper he published in December 2024 that 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.
"We did not find any murders. In all cases, death or injury were due to natural causes or just bad medical care."
The panel's findings are likely to form part of an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) after Letby lost two bids to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal last year.
