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A public inquiry into the murder of Lucy Letby should consider questions about the protection of her conviction, a former cabinet minister has said.
Former Brexit Secretary David Davis has written to Lady Justice Thirlwall, chair of the upcoming inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester Hospital, expressing concern that the terms of the inquiry depend on the assumption that Ms Letby has been found guilty.
A growing number of experts have expressed concern about the case, and there is growing disquiet within the NHS and the legal profession that Letby could be made a scapegoat for NHS failings.
In his letter, Sir David argues that the inquest’s terms of reference should be broad enough to consider alternative explanations for the death and that evidence should be admitted to address ongoing concerns about the safety of Ms Letby’s conviction.
Pictured: Lucy Letby, sentenced to life in prison for killing babies in a neonatal unit.
MP David Davies speaks to the media outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London in March.
Explaining that “a number of experts have contacted me to express their concerns”, Sir David wrote: “These experts range from Nobel laureates to heads of royal societies and royal colleges and include doctors, statisticians, forensic scientists and other distinguished experts.”
“At the very least, I believe the mandate of your inquiry should be broadened to not be based on the assumption that Ms. Letby’s conviction was safe.”
He added: “It is possible that the deaths were not homicides, but rather the result of a systemic failure in a unit that was overburdened and underfunded.”
‘Secondly, these deaths may have been due to poor management of vulnerable newborns in the unit… Thirdly, the deaths may have been due to external factors, including infections such as a Pseudomonas outbreak that was reported to the hospital. Struggling to contain the time of death.’
A growing number of experts have expressed concern about the case and the possibility of Letby being made a scapegoat for NHS failings.
Supporters of former nurse Lucy Letby protest outside the High Court in London during her appeal hearing.
Sir David plans to lead a campaign in the House of Commons raising doubts about the conviction.
Mail columnists Peter Hitchens and Nadine Dorries noted that Letby was convicted of the murder of seven newborns and the attempted murder of six other children at the Countess of Chester Hospital despite the fact that no one saw him kill or attempt to kill. And there is no forensic evidence to prove his guilt.
Two prosecution witnesses based their opinions on a 30-year-old research paper suggesting Letby killed the children by injecting air into them through their feeding tubes. But the academic who wrote the paper was not called as a prosecution witness and has since expressed doubts about his work being used at trial.
