UK detectives investigating the former nurse Lucy Letby have passed evidence to prosecutors alleging she murdered and harmed more babies.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed on Wednesday that it was considering further charges against Letby over alleged crimes at the Countess of Chester hospital and Liverpool Women’s hospital.
It is understood that evidence relating to more than six cases has been passed to prosecutors by Cheshire constabulary.
It follows the arrest this week of three former Countess of Chester hospital bosses on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
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Letby (35) is serving 15 whole-life prison terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others in the year to June 2016.
The former neonatal nurse is seeking to overturn her convictions at the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), having lost two legal challenges at the court of appeal.
Police have faced mounting questions about Letby’s convictions after an international panel of experts announced in February that they had found no evidence of criminality against her after reviewing medical records and other documents.
However, Cheshire constabulary is continuing three criminal investigations into the former nurse, hospital bosses and into alleged corporate manslaughter by the Countess of Chester hospital NHS foundation trust.
The three former hospital managers arrested on Monday on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter have not been named and have declined to comment. They have all been released on police bail.
[ Lucy Letby case roils Britain’s legal and medical establishmentsOpens in new window ]
The CPS said on Wednesday it had “received a full file of evidence from Cheshire constabulary asking us to consider further allegations in relation to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester hospital and Liverpool Women’s hospital”.
A spokesperson said it would “carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought”, adding: “As always, we will make that decision independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test.”
Any further charges against Letby are likely to be highly controversial given the concerns about her convictions.
A further prosecution against the former nurse would have to be approved by Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions.
As the criminal investigations continue, the CCRC is at the early stages of reviewing two large dossiers of expert medical evidence casting doubt on her convictions, which followed two trials at Manchester crown court.
Mark McDonald, Letby’s new barrister, has described the new material as “overwhelming evidence” that she should be released from prison, where she has been held since November 2020.
However, lawyers for the babies who died and were harmed in Letby’s care have dismissed the expert evidence as “old and full of analytical flaws”.
Peter Skelton KC, for the families of seven of the babies, told the Thirlwall inquiry in March that the doubts were based on “fragile towers of speculation”.
Richard Baker KC, representing the families of 12 of the babies, said there was “nothing remarkable or new” about the material passed to the CCRC, adding that the bereaved parents had become a “sideshow within a ghoulish media circus”. – Guardian
