A campaign to free killer nurse Lucy Letby is gaining momentum

Is Letby, a former neo-natal nurse who is serving a whole of life prison sentence in the UK, a victim of a miscarriage of justice?

Child serial killer Lucy Letby: In August 2023, Letby, 34, of Hereford, was convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six other infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. 

A young nurse is destined to spend the rest of her life in prison but she may be a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

So goes the current narrative around Lucy Letby, who is serving a whole of life prison sentence in the UK for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven other infants. 

A campaign to free Ms Letby taps into different currents of modern culture that affect us all.

Last year Letby was convicted of the crimes, alleged to have occurred in the Countess Of Chester Hospital in 2015/16, following one of the longest trials in British legal history. 

The jury failed to reach a verdict on one of the attempted murder charges. That was retried earlier this year and the 33-year-old neonatal nurse was convicted on that charge as well. 

As things stand, she is destined to die in prison.

Following the second trial a reporter for The New Yorker magazine wrote a 13,000 word article throwing doubt on some of the evidence. 

The case built against Ms Letby was entirely circumstantial; issues have also been raised about evidence on statistics used in the trial. 

Another element of the campaign to free Ms Letby concerns the quality of legal representation she had. 

For instance, six medical experts gave evidence for the prosecution, but none were presented by the defence. 

A further concern expressed is the lack of motive adduced by the prosecution.

The article kicked off a campaign that has attracted interest from far and wide. 

David Davies, a veteran Conservative MP — known in this country for his hard Brexit views — has stated that it is “highly probable that she is innocent”. 

At the other end of the political spectrum, socialist Guardian columnist Owen Jones has opined that her conviction is unsafe.

There are medical experts, legal heads and journalists who have also expressed extreme unease about Ms Letby’s fate.

Letby was convicted of the crimes alleged to have occurred in the Countess Of Chester Hospital in 2015/16.

What is unusual is that any suggestion of a miscarriage has followed hot on the heels of Mr Letby’s conviction.

No new evidence has been uncovered; all of the issues raised have been about the conduct of the legal process.

None of those involved or supporting the campaign were present for the 10 months of the first trial in particular. The jury was and they decided the case on the facts.

The jury in the second trial did likewise. A three judge panel of judges determined that Ms Letby did not have a case for appeal.

Apart from that, there is nothing unusual in a case being decided entirely on circumstantial evidence. 

Many trials, including those for murder, are based entirely on circumstantial evidence and if that is strong enough there is little dispute about the outcome.

There may be questions about the statistical evidence heard, which concerned the chances of some of the children’s deaths occurring where Ms Letby was not on duty at the time, but others have suggested that this was a minor strand of the prosecution case.

Lack of expert medical evidence in defence

As for the lack of expert medical evidence presented by the defence, it is known that lawyers did brief two experts but they were not called. 

One possible explanation for this is that the lawyers determined that the medical evidence they had to give would not help the case.

All of this is occurring against the background of the opening of a public inquiry last week into the infants’ deaths. 

At the outset of proceedings last week the chair of the inquiry, Lady Justice Thrillwall, said that the “outpouring of comment” on the validity of Letby’s convictions had created a “noise that has caused an enormous amount of stress for the parents” of her victims. 

That is an entirely valid position but equally if the outpouring of comment has a solid basis then it deserves to be heard and finely analysed.

Yet the whole campaign, as it has progressed so far, is somewhat unsettling. 

Much of it feeds into a sense of disbelief that a young nurse could callously kill infants in her care. 

Chair of the inquiry Lady Justice Thirlwall at Liverpool Town Hall last week, ahead of hearings into the murders and attempted murders of babies by nurse Lucy Letby. Picture: Peter Byrne/PA

Into that milieu an article challenging facts can go viral across social media. 

In an era of the proliferation of conspiracy theories, and the capacity of social media clips to distort reality, a narrative does not have to be based on verifiable facts to take flight and harden.

Another element of current trends feeding into the campaign is the depleting trust in institutions.

 Scepticism is always necessary, but the prevailing culture today has, in some quarters, accelerated this into cynicism.

Miscarriages of justice do occur. We know from experience in this country that it can take decades before such an injustice is rectified. 

If there is real substance to the Letby campaign she should not have to endure years of a grindingly slow process. 

One course of action would be to re-visit the application for appeal in the hope that the three judge panel may, in light of what is emerging, at least review the decision not to grant an appeal.

The court system in operation in the UK is similar to this country and in general terms is robust. 

A full appeal should be equipped to deal with any concerns that have a legitimate basis or to determine that the mushrooming campaign does not have a sound basis.

In the round, the case gives rise to unsettling questions around the processing of criminal justice in a culture where old attitudes, some bad, others worthwhile, are fast disappearing.