Thirlwall inquiry has left biggest questions around the Letby case unanswered

Decision not to pause proceedings means £18m report does not engage with concerns over former nurse’s conviction

Just two months before Lady Justice Kathryn Thirlwall opened her inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester hospital and the crimes of Lucy Letby, a report by Chris Henley KC was published into the “atrocious” wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson for rape.

Henley prefaced that report with a plea for the legal establishment to recognise that the criminal courts produce miscarriages of justice. Right up to top judges in the court of appeal, Henley wrote, the system has “a deep-seated … cultural reluctance” to accept it “will on occasion make mistakes” and that “entirely innocent defendants will sometimes be convicted”.

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Thirlwall inquiry has left biggest questions around the Letby case unanswered

Decision not to pause proceedings means £18m report does not engage with concerns over former nurse’s conviction

Just two months before Lady Justice Kathryn Thirlwall opened her inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester hospital and the crimes of Lucy Letby, a report by Chris Henley KC was published into the “atrocious” wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson for rape.

Henley prefaced that report with a plea for the legal establishment to recognise that the criminal courts produce miscarriages of justice. Right up to top judges in the court of appeal, Henley wrote, the system has “a deep-seated … cultural reluctance” to accept it “will on occasion make mistakes” and that “entirely innocent defendants will sometimes be convicted”.

Continue reading...

Thirlwall inquiry has left biggest questions around the Letby case unanswered

Decision not to pause proceedings means £18m report does not engage with concerns over former nurse’s conviction

Just two months before Lady Justice Kathryn Thirlwall opened her inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester hospital and the crimes of Lucy Letby, a report by Chris Henley KC was published into the “atrocious” wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson for rape.

Henley prefaced that report with a plea for the legal establishment to recognise that the criminal courts produce miscarriages of justice. Right up to top judges in the court of appeal, Henley wrote, the system has “a deep-seated … cultural reluctance” to accept it “will on occasion make mistakes” and that “entirely innocent defendants will sometimes be convicted”.

Continue reading...

Thirlwall inquiry has left biggest questions around the Letby case unanswered

Decision not to pause proceedings means £18m report does not engage with concerns over former nurse’s conviction

Just two months before Lady Justice Kathryn Thirlwall opened her inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester hospital and the crimes of Lucy Letby, a report by Chris Henley KC was published into the “atrocious” wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson for rape.

Henley prefaced that report with a plea for the legal establishment to recognise that the criminal courts produce miscarriages of justice. Right up to top judges in the court of appeal, Henley wrote, the system has “a deep-seated … cultural reluctance” to accept it “will on occasion make mistakes” and that “entirely innocent defendants will sometimes be convicted”.

Continue reading...

Thirlwall inquiry has left biggest questions around the Letby case unanswered

Decision not to pause proceedings means £18m report does not engage with concerns over former nurse’s conviction

Just two months before Lady Justice Kathryn Thirlwall opened her inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester hospital and the crimes of Lucy Letby, a report by Chris Henley KC was published into the “atrocious” wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson for rape.

Henley prefaced that report with a plea for the legal establishment to recognise that the criminal courts produce miscarriages of justice. Right up to top judges in the court of appeal, Henley wrote, the system has “a deep-seated … cultural reluctance” to accept it “will on occasion make mistakes” and that “entirely innocent defendants will sometimes be convicted”.

Continue reading...

Thirlwall inquiry has left biggest questions around the Letby case unanswered

Decision not to pause proceedings means £18m report does not engage with concerns over former nurse’s conviction

Just two months before Lady Justice Kathryn Thirlwall opened her inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester hospital and the crimes of Lucy Letby, a report by Chris Henley KC was published into the “atrocious” wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson for rape.

Henley prefaced that report with a plea for the legal establishment to recognise that the criminal courts produce miscarriages of justice. Right up to top judges in the court of appeal, Henley wrote, the system has “a deep-seated … cultural reluctance” to accept it “will on occasion make mistakes” and that “entirely innocent defendants will sometimes be convicted”.

Continue reading...

Thirlwall inquiry has left biggest questions around the Letby case unanswered

Decision not to pause proceedings means £18m report does not engage with concerns over former nurse’s conviction

Just two months before Lady Justice Kathryn Thirlwall opened her inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester hospital and the crimes of Lucy Letby, a report by Chris Henley KC was published into the “atrocious” wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson for rape.

Henley prefaced that report with a plea for the legal establishment to recognise that the criminal courts produce miscarriages of justice. Right up to top judges in the court of appeal, Henley wrote, the system has “a deep-seated … cultural reluctance” to accept it “will on occasion make mistakes” and that “entirely innocent defendants will sometimes be convicted”.

Continue reading...

Emergency care at Lucy Letby hospital falls short of legal standards, CQC finds

Countess of Chester receives urgent warning notice over ‘visibly dirty equipment’ and routine corridor care

Emergency care at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked is falling far short of legal standards, the healthcare watchdog has found, with routine corridor care and “critical gaps” in sepsis treatment.

The Countess of Chester hospital, in north-west England, was issued with an urgent warning notice after inspectors found “repeated breaches” of regulations in its emergency care unit.

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Lucy Letby calls for public inquiry into baby deaths to be halted

Ex-nurse says inquiry should be suspended until review of convictions has finished

Lucy Letby has called for the public inquiry into her crimes to be halted, arguing there is now “overwhelming and compelling” evidence undermining her baby murder convictions.

Lawyers for the former nurse took the extraordinary step of writing to Lady Justice Thirlwall on Monday to say that the inquiry – which is due to end on Wednesday – should be suspended immediately.

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Lucy Letby’s acting was Oscar-worthy if she really is guilty, former boss says

Former head of nursing at Countess of Chester says Letby ‘cried in my arms’ after being removed from the ward

Lucy Letby’s former boss has said “if she was acting she deserves an Oscar” as she described tearful meetings with the neonatal nurse after accusations against her first emerged.

Karen Rees, the head of nursing at the Countess of Chester hospital before her retirement in March 2018, revealed to the Sunday Times that she had always believed in Letby’s innocence. The pair developed a close relationship in the months after Letby was removed from the ward over concerns she was connected to a sharp rise in infant deaths.

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‘Strong reasonable doubt’ over Lucy Letby insulin convictions, experts say

Exclusive: ‘No scientific justification’ to say former nurse definitely poisoned babies with insulin, according to study authors

The claim that Lucy Letby definitely poisoned babies with insulin has “no scientific justification whatsoever” and there is a “very strong level of reasonable doubt” about the convictions, according to the authors of a 100-page study on the case.

Prof Geoff Chase, one of the world’s foremost experts on the effect of insulin on pre-term babies, told the Guardian it was “very unlikely” anyone had administered potentially lethal doses to two of the infants.

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After experts find ‘no medical evidence’ of murder, will Lucy Letby get a retrial?

Former nurse is serving 15 whole-life terms in prison yet an appeal is not guaranteed despite findings of expert panel

Despite 14 leading experts concluding there was “no medical evidence” that Lucy Letby murdered babies, there is no guarantee that her case will be sent back to the court of appeal – let alone quickly.

Letby’s fate now sits with the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the miscarriage of justice body that has the power to refer convictions back for appeal, and what the outcome will be remains uncertain.

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‘No medical evidence’ to support Lucy Letby’s conviction, expert panel finds

Babies former nurse was convicted of killing were victims of ‘bad medical care’ or died of natural causes, panel says

Babies the former nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering were in fact the victims of “bad medical care” or deteriorated as a result of natural causes, an expert panel has concluded.

Outlining what the senior Conservative MP David Davis described as “one of worst injustices of recent times”, the international team told a press conference there was “no medical evidence” to support claims of deliberate harm.

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Lucy Letby questioned over suspicious deaths of babies in Liverpool

Jailed neonatal nurse’s lawyer condemns ‘leaking by police’ as possible link to Liverpool Women’s hospital emerges

Lucy Letby maintains her innocence, her lawyer said on Wednesday as he condemned “leaking by the police” after it was confirmed the neonatal nurse had been interviewed over more suspicious deaths of babies.

Letby, who is serving a whole-life sentence for killing and maiming newborns in her care, was questioned under caution about other unexpected deaths and collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester hospital and, for the first time, at Liverpool Women’s hospital where she trained as a student, Cheshire police said.

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Lucy Letby inquiry: hospital boss ‘sincerely regrets’ not calling police sooner

Former medical director of Countess of Chester hospital says he is ‘truly sorry’ if he failed bereaved families

A boss at the hospital where Lucy Letby murdered babies has said he “sincerely regrets” not calling police sooner and is “truly sorry” if he failed the bereaved families.

Ian Harvey, a former medical director at the Countess of Chester hospital, told the Thirlwall inquiry he wished he had contacted the police nearly a year before they were informed.

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Judge denies he was asked to give advice about Letby because he is a Freemason

Simon Medland KC told inquiry his membership of organisation was not the reason he was approached by hospital boss

A judge has denied he was asked to give legal advice to hospital bosses over concerns about nurse Lucy Letby because he is a Freemason, a public inquiry has heard.

The Thirlwall inquiry into events surrounding the crimes of Letby heard that both Judge Simon Medland KC and the Countess of Chester’s former director of corporate and legal services, Stephen Cross, are members of the organisation.

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Lucy Letby likely to have harmed other babies, doctor tells inquiry

Consultant who raised concerns says there could have been earlier victims she has not been convicted of killing

Lucy Letby was likely to have harmed more babies than those she has been convicted of murdering on a hospital neonatal unit, a senior doctor has told a public inquiry.

Dr Stephen Brearey, a consultant paediatrician who raised concerns about the nurse, told the Thirlwall inquiry he believed Letby “didn’t start becoming a killer” in June 2015 and that she may have had earlier victims.

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Lucy Letby gave baby morphine overdose years before first murder, inquiry hears

Newborn received 10 times the correct amount of painkiller and could have died if colleagues had not spotted error

Lucy Letby gave a potentially fatal dose of morphine to a newborn baby two years before she murdered her first victim, an inquiry has heard.

The infant received 10 times the correct amount of the painkiller at the end of a night shift in July 2013 and could have died if colleagues at handover had not spotted the error an hour later.

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Parents of babies attacked by Letby ‘kept in the dark’, inquiry told

One mother told Thirlwall inquiry she was unaware for six years anything had happened

Parents of babies attacked by Lucy Letby were not told their children had suffered life-threatening collapses until they were contacted by the police years later, an inquiry has heard.

The parents of one newborn boy said it was “disgusting” they were “kept in the dark” by staff at the Countess of Chester hospital after their son’s health suffered a serious deterioration in June 2016.

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Lucy Letby victims’ families call for CCTV on neonatal wards

Lawyer for relatives says Thirlwall inquiry into case of killer nurse, due to begin next week, is ‘vitally important’

Families of some of Lucy Letby’s victims are calling for CCTV on neonatal wards, tighter control of insulin in hospitals and more protection for NHS whistleblowers, their lawyer has said before a public inquiry begins next week.

The Thirlwall inquiry, which starts on Tuesday, has been set up to examine what happened at the Countess of Chester hospital, where Letby worked. She has been convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more while based there as a neonatal nurse.

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