The public inquiry into the deaths blamed on Lucy Letby should take into account doubts about the safety 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, raising concerns that the terms of the inquiry depend on the presumption that Letby’s conviction was certain.
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 may have been used as a scapegoat for NHS failings.
In his letter, Sir David argues that the terms of reference for the inquiry should be broad enough to consider alternative explanations for the deaths and admit evidence to address concerns now being raised about the safety of Ms Letby’s conviction.
Pictured: Lucy Letby, who was given a life sentence for killing babies in a neonatal unit.
MP David Davis speaks to the media outside the Royal Courts Of Justice in London in March
Explaining that “a multitude of experts have contacted me to express their concerns”, Sir David writes: “These experts range from Nobel laureates to heads of royal societies and colleges, and other leading experts in medicine, statistics, forensic science and healthcare.
‘At the very least, I think the terms of reference for your inquiry should be broadened so that they do not rely on the presumption that Ms Letby’s conviction was safe.’
He added: “The deaths may not have been caused by murder, but rather the result of a systemic failure in a unit that was overstretched and underfunded.
‘Secondly, the deaths may have been caused by poor management of vulnerable neonatal babies in the unit… thirdly, the deaths may have been caused by external factors, including infections such as a pseudomonas outbreak that the hospital was reportedly struggling to contain at the time of the deaths.’
A growing number of experts have expressed concern about the case and there is growing concern that Letby could have been made a scapegoat for NHS failings.
Supporters of former nurse Lucy Letby demonstrate outside the High Court in London during her appeal hearing
Sir David is planning to lead a campaign in the House of Commons to raise questions about the conviction.
Mail columnists Peter Hitchens and Nadine Dorries have highlighted that Letby was convicted of the murders of seven newborns and the attempted murders of six other babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital despite the fact that no-one saw her kill, or attempt to kill, a baby and there is no forensic evidence to prove her guilt.
Two prosecution witnesses based their opinions on a 30-year-old research paper and suggested that Letby murdered babies 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 cast doubt on whether his work was used at trial.