The chair of the British public inquiry examining how Lucy Letby managed to murder seven babies in her care rejected calls to pause the investigation until a review body assessed whether her convictions should be re-examined. Letby is serving a life sentence after being found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder eight others while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in northern England.
Her case has garnered significant attention, as medical experts and other specialists have questioned the prosecution evidence used to convict her. After unsuccessful appeals, Letby's lawyers made a preliminary application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, arguing that new evidence suggests her convictions are unsafe.
At the conclusion of the inquiry hearings into the failures that contributed to the deaths, chair Kathryn Thirlwall stated that she had dismissed requests from Letby's legal team, as well as from a prominent lawmaker, to suspend the inquiry pending the CCRC outcome. Thirlwall asserted, "The inquiry does not become unfair because there is a possibility that all the convictions are unsafe."
Lawyers representing the families of the deceased infants noted that the new evidence did not significantly challenge the convictions. Richard Baker, one of the lawyers, emphasized that it is not uncommon for alleged miscarriages of justice to receive extensive media attention, only for the supporting evidence to later prove inadequate. He urged that the victims should not be treated as public property for sensational commentary.
Thirlwall announced that she would begin drafting her report and aims to publish it in November.