Lucy Letby – latest: Killer’s new barrister says anger must be redirected if found innocent ahead of inquiry

Ahead of a Thirlwall Inquiry into the baby deaths, being launched on Tuesday, statisticians, armchair detectives, politicians and criminal experts are among those demanding a fresh look at the evidence that convicted Letby to 15-whole life orders.

Here we cover the questions, including the confession, statistics and the cause of deaths:

Growing speculation and online conspiracy theories have caused upset for the families of Lucy Letby’s victims.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, the parents of two babies have spoken of their dismay.

The couple went to the eight-month trial in 2023 wheich saw Letby convicted of murdering seven babies.

They said: “Our family is deeply shocked by the ongoing speculation surrounding what is being referred to as a miscarriage of justice.

“Certain pieces of evidence being discussed in the media are grossly out of context and misrepresented. Misinformation is being circulated about what transpired in court. Having attended the trial ourselves, we are fully aware of what was said.”

They also question how people can support the killer despite not having a full understanding of all the evidence shared in court.

“This whole traumatic experience made us question humanity,” they said.

A solicitor representing the families of six victims of Lucy Letby said media speculation on Letby’s status and possible appeals in the future has been “upsetting” for all of her clients.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Tamlin Bolton said: “I can’t stress enough how upsetting that has been for all of the families that I represent.

“And they have thought about so many ways in which they can try to address that and deal with it and make sure they put their voice across. But of course they’re restricted by wanting to keep themselves confidential and private.

“So it’s a really difficult challenge for them to try and avoid social media, avoid the reporting about it.

“But when you have children that are now eight or nine years old, they are looking at TikTok, they’re looking at social media and there are people claiming that the harm that was caused to them or their sibling was not caused by somebody who’s been found guilty of those crimes by a jury and whose appeals have been exhausted, and the Court of Appeal have also said she remains guilty of these crimes.”

A solicitor representing the families of six victims of Lucy Letby said her clients are “full of hope but an awful lot of anxiety” in the run-up to the inquiry into the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The inquiry, starting on Tuesday, will look at the events at the hospital and their implications following the trial.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Tamlin Bolton said: “It’s really difficult for a lot of them. They’re all dealing with this enormous ongoing tragedy.

“For those of them that have surviving children, they’re now eight or nine years old and there is going to come a point where they have to explain all of the events of almost the past 10 years to them.

“They’re full of a lot of hope but an awful lot of anxiety about what they’re now going to hear – that they still don’t fully know and they still don’t fully understand the picture of what happened to their babies at that time.”

A public inquiry examining events at the Countess of Chester Hospital following Lucy Letby’s multiple convictions is due to begin on Tuesday in Liverpool.

The Thirlwall Inquiry will examine events at the hospital and their implications following the trial, and subsequent convictions, of Letby of murder and attempted murder of babies at the hospital.

It’s expected to last four weeks.

Lucy Letby’s new barrister said he will be asking the Criminal Cases Review Commission for Letby’s case to be sent back to the Court of Appeal “on fresh evidence” but said the process “might take a long time”.

Letby’s trial ran for 10 months from October 2022 to August 2023, with a retrial ordered after a jury was unable to reach a verdict on one count of attempted murder of a baby girl.

She is serving 15 whole-life orders after being 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.

Mr McDonald compared Letby’s conviction to that of the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six – two groups of people wrongly accused of carrying out IRA pub bombings in the 1970s whose convictions were later quashed.

The Guilford Four saw a group of people wrongly convicted for pub bombings in 1974. The Birmingham Six were six men who spent 16 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of pub bombings, also in 1974.

“These were some of the biggest miscarriages of justice in UK history, and yet they were found to be innocent,” Mr McDonald said.

The barrister added that he had so far seen “quite a lot of evidence that there are some real concerns” over Letby’s convictions.

In recent weeks there have been a growing number of theories put forward over Lucy Letby’s convictions.

When asked what his case rested on for a fresh appeal, Lucy Letby’s new barrister, Mark McDonald, told Channel 5 News, he was looking at statistics, such as the number of deaths at Countess of Chester Hospital, and new medical evidence.

He said: “We’re looking really at issues in relation to statistics. And I know that sounds probably quite bizarre to hear, ‘well, what statistics got to do with it?

“You may remember that there were some bold assertions made during the trial in relation to, for example, (that) there was a spike of deaths, she was always on duty, when in fact, when analysed by some of the leading statisticians in the country, they’re seeing flaws in those assertions made by the prosecution to such a fundamental extent we believe it undermines the conviction.”

And on medical evidence, he continued: “We’re looking at neonatology for a start.

“We’re looking at the whole idea in relation to insulin, the testing of insulin, whether or not that testing was reliable, whether or not that the assertion that there was insulin present is accurate.”

Lucy Letby’s new barrister, Mark McDonald, has said new medical evidence and expert opinion revealed “flaws” which undermined the prosecution of the former nurse, who was found guilty in two trials.

He is prepearing to file a submission to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in a fresh attempt to appeal Letby’s convictions.

On Friday, he told Channel 5 News: “You know, I’ve been so encouraged by the amount of people that have come forward: experts in neonatology, anaesthetists, pathology, statistics; that have come forward and have identified flaws in the trial that now want to give evidence for her, and we’ll want to draft reports to put in to the CCRC to assist.”

He has also reacted to upset voiced by the families.

Speaking to Times Radio, he said families had a right to be angry.

But added: “Of course they do. And upset. And if the defence team are correct and no crime was actually committed here, then their anger needs to be pointed in a different direction.”