Lucy Letby – latest: Nurse did not murder any babies, medical experts claim

As we’ve been reporting, an international panel of medical experts revealed their case summaries on seven babies who former nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of attacking at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016.

They concluded that no criminal offences had been committed and instead provided alternative causes of death:

– Baby 1 (known as Child A in the trial) – The prosecution said the boy was murdered by an injection of air into the bloodstream which caused a fatal blockage to the blood supply. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and said the child had died from thrombosis, where a blood clot forms in a vessel.

– Baby 4 (Child D) – The prosecution said the girl was murdered by an injection of air into the bloodstream which caused a fatal blockage to the blood supply. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and ruled the child died of systemic sepsis, pneumonia and disseminated intravascular coagulation (blood clotting). Issues with failures to give relevant antibiotics were also identified.

– Baby 6 (Child F) – The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder the boy by administering insulin. The panel ruled that the child’s insulin levels and insulin/C-peptide ratio did not prove that exogenous insulin was used and were within the norm for preterm infants. It added that there was poor medical management of the child’s prolonged hypoglycaemia.

– Baby 7 (Child G) – The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder the girl by overfeeding her with milk and forcing air down her feeding tube. The panel said there was no evidence to support air injection into the stomach or overfeeding. The infant’s vomiting and clinical deterioration was due to infection, it found.

– Baby 9 (Child I) – The prosecution said Letby murdered the infant by injecting air into her bloodstream and stomach. The panel said it found no evidence of air injections and that the baby died of breathing complications caused by respiratory distress syndrome and chronic lung disease.

– Baby 11 (Child K) – The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder the girl by deliberately dislodging her breathing tube. Among its findings the panel said there was no evidence to support a dislodged endotracheal tube (ETT) and the clinical deterioration was caused by use of an undersized ETT.

– Baby 15 (Child O) – The prosecution said Letby murdered the triplet boy by injecting air into his bloodstream and inflicting trauma to his liver. The panel said her died from liver damage caused by traumatic delivery, resulting in bleeding in the abdomen and profound shock.

Today’s press conference wasn’t the first time the hospital has come under scrutiny for alleged problems during the time Lucy Letby worked there.

Back in September, the hospital came under the microscope during the Thirlwall Inquiry, which was set up to examine how the nurse was able to carry out her crimes.

Peter Skelton KC, representing seven of the families, told the hearing there were “five basic failures which occurred right from the start and which continued for the next two years”.

They included an alleged failure to properly and swiftly investigate infant deaths.

Read our story from the inquiry here:

At this morning’s press conference, panel chairman Dr Shoo Lee said his team found a number of medical problems at the Countess of Chester Hospital during the time of Lucy Letby’s convictions.

These included, he said, poor skills in resuscitation and inserting breathing tubes, a lack of understanding of some basic procedures, along with misdiagnoses and unsafe delays in treatment of acutely poorly babies.

Evidence of inadequate numbers of appropriately-trained staff, work overload, lack of teamwork and caring for ill babies “probably beyond their expected ability of designated level of care” was also found, he said.

Dr Lee said the Countess of Chester would have been shut down if it was in his homeland of Canada.

He said: “Death or injury of all the affected infants were due either to natural causes or to errors in medical care.

“There were serious problems related to medical care of patients at this hospital.

Lucy Letby’s case was “horrendous” and “shocked the nation”, Downing Street has said amid growing claims the nurse is innocent.

Asked whether the prime minister thinks Letby is guilty, Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman added: “A criminal trial has taken place, and Lucy Letby was found guilty.

“There is, of course, an established process through the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which is independent of government and the Commission has today, confirmed they have received an application from Lucy Letby’s legal team, we obviously wouldn’t get drawn on that independent process.”

The spokesman pointed to health secretary Wes Streeting’s previous comments that “we should also all remember what the families and those affected by this appalling case are going through and keep them in our thoughts”.

Dr Shoo Lee is a Canadian professor who co-authored a 1989 academic paper on air embolism in babies.

The work featured prominently at Letby’s 10-month trial and was used by the prosecution to highlight a variety of skin discolorations observed in babies.

But Dr Lee says his paper was misinterpreted by the prosecution and jury members could have been misled.

He was first contacted about Letby’s case in relation to the first appeal last year.

He is now leading the team of 14 international medical experts, which on Tuesday gave alternative causes of death in several of the cases against Letby.

As we’ve reported, an application has been submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to review the Lucy Letby case.

The commission looks into criminal cases where people believe they have been wrongly convicted or wrongly sentenced.

If members find something wrong with a conviction or sentence, they can send the case to the Court of Appeal.

On the application lodged by Letby’s lawyer yesterday, the CCRC issued a statement, just minutes before this morning’s press conference.

It read: “We have received a preliminary application in relation to Ms Letby’s case, and work has begun to assess the application. We anticipate further submissions being made to us.

“It is not for the CCRC to determine innocence or guilt in a case, that’s a matter for the courts.

“It is for the CCRC to find, investigate and if appropriate, refer potential miscarriages of justice to the appellate courts when new evidence or new argument means there is a real possibility that a conviction will not be upheld, or a sentence reduced.

“At this stage it is not possible to determine how long it will take to review this application. A significant volume of complicated evidence was presented to the court in Ms Letby’s trials.

Lucy Letby is serving 15 whole life prison sentences after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others.

Last year, she lost two bids last year to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal.

The first bid in May was over seven murders and seven attempted murders, and in October for the attempted murder of a baby girl which she was convicted of by a different jury at a retrial.

Dr Shoo Lee gave evidence as part of the first application, but this was rejected as three senior judges.

They concluded there had been no prosecution expert evidence diagnosing air embolus solely on the basis of skin discolouration.

Now, Letby’s lawyers have lodged a request to the Criminal Cases Review Commission to investigate her case as a potential miscarriage of justice.

The body will assess if the new evidence gives a reasonable chance of a conviction being overturned – and the case could be referred to the Court of Appeal.

Dr Shoo Lee, who is leading the international panel of experts, issued two messages to the families of those impacted in the case.

He said: “We understand their stress and their anguish, and our work is not meant to cause more distress.

“Rather, it is meant to give them comfort and assurance in knowing the truth about what really happened.

“We know that they want to know the truth and that is why we are here to tell the truth.

“Should they have any queries or concerns, we’d be pleased to discuss them with them.”

We’ve put together an explainer on who is on the panel of international experts, what is their evidence, and what happens now.

Following Lucy Letby’s final conviction last year, a number of actions have been taking place.

Today, we heard how an application has been lodged with the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, for the Letby case to be reviewed that is taking place.

A public inquiry into how the nurse committed her crimes is also under way, and detectives from Cheshire Constabulary are continuing their review of the care of some 4,000 babies admitted to hospital while Letby worked as a neonatal nurse.