A new ITV documentary casting fresh light on the case of Lucy Letby has received five-star reviews for its insightful dive into her conviction. The documentary comes as several medical experts have criticised the “deeply disturbing” and “flawed” evidence used to convict the nurse.
Letby was found guilty of murdering seven newborns and attempting to kill seven others, receiving 15 whole life sentences, meaning she will never be eligible for parole. However, in ITV’s Lucy Letby: Beyond Reasonable Doubt? her barrister Mark McDonald states: “There’s no direct evidence, no one saw her do anything wrong.”
This follows reports that ‘scared’ Letby can’t lose weight as she hoards ‘junk food’ behind bars, reports the Mirror. He further adds: “In the trial, they started from the starting point, ‘She has done harm. Now we have to show how she has harmed each child….we’re just going to put together a theory.’ And she was convicted on that theory.”
What are the latest arguments raised in the documentary?
Despite two failed appeals, in February a panel of medical experts, led by Dr Shoo Lee, found that Letby did not murder any babies. Her defence team has now submitted an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Dr Neena Modi, former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, commented: “It’s been deeply disturbing that one can have such a… tremendously important trial that seems to have been conducted with so many flaws.”
One alleged flaw is a shift chart, used to prove Letby was always present when the babies were harmed at the Countess of Chester Hospital from 2015 to 2016.
However, statistician Professor Jane Hutton has criticised the omission of some incidents when Letby was not on duty, stating: “This is a summary that is so crude it can only be described as grossly misleading.”
It was also suggested that Letby caused one infant’s death by removing a breathing tube. Yet, several experts argue that the tubes can be dislodged due to a “variety of reasons”.
Notes penned by Letby, including the phrase “I am evil I did this”, were presented in court as confessional. However, it is alleged she was encouraged by hospital staff to jot down her feelings to help manage stress. The prosecution’s lead expert, Dr Dewi Evans, is also accused of changing his opinion about how three infants died since the case began.
He refutes this, asserting that his evidence has been accepted by a jury and the Court of Appeal. He also contends that the case put forward by Dr Shoo Lee’s panel has not been scrutinised in court and contains significant factual inaccuracies.
The CPS stated: “Lucy Letby was convicted of 15 separate counts following two jury trials. In May 2024, the Court of Appeal dismissed Letby’s leave to appeal on all grounds, rejecting her argument that expert prosecution evidence was flawed.”
They added that they are currently reviewing police files on additional infant deaths and collapses at the Countess of Chester and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
How to watch
Lucy Letby: Beyond Reasonable Doubt? aired on ITV1 on Sunday night (August 3), but you can watch it now online on ITVX.
For more on the case, BBC One Panorama are airing documentary Lucy Letby: Who To Believe? next Monday (August 11) at 8pm and again on Saturday (August 16) at 00:45am on BBC Two.
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