mps to debate the case https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/12/19/mps-to-debate-lucy-letby-case-as-lawyers-seek-fresh-appeal/
The article in full:
The Lucy Letby case will be debated in Parliament in January, the Telegraph has learned, after the former nurse’s lawyers said they would seek a fresh appeal.
An application by David Davis, the Tory MP, was granted approval on Thursday, with a debate listed for Jan 8.
Letby is serving 15 full-life terms after being convicted of the murder of seven infants, and the attempted murder of seven others, at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.
Since the verdict, dozens of experts have come forward to challenge evidence heard by the jury, and Letby intends to take her case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).
Sir David said: “The reason I’m doing the debate in the New Year is to put pressure on the CCRC to move faster.”
He added: “Justice delayed is justice denied, particularly when you’re sitting in prison. It won’t be a hard speech to write. I’m not asking for a gut reaction, I’m asking for a retrial.
“I think a retrial with proper experts would come to a different conclusion. I think that will change the public’s mind.”
Witness changes mind
Earlier this week, Mark McDonald, Letby’s new barrister, said he would be asking the Court of Appeal to review its decision not to allow an appeal, after the chief medical witness in the case changed his mind about some of the deaths.
Dr Dewi Evans, a retired paediatrician from Carmarthen, gave several interviews after the nurse’s murder trial saying he had revised his opinion on how three of the babies died.
In October, The Telegraph revealed Dr Evans no longer believed Baby C was killed by an injection of air
into its stomach, as set out in the prosecution’s case, although he still believed Letby was guilty.
Since the trial, this newspaper has revealed that door-swipe data used to place various doctors and nurses at the scene of baby collapses and deaths was flawed.
Further, the jury was not told about several internal and external reviews carried out by the Countess of Chester, public bodies, outside medical experts and pathologists that failed to find evidence of foul play.
Nor did jurors hear that the neonatal unit had suffered an outbreak of the deadly bug pseudomonas and had been criticised as crowded and understaffed, with consultants making only two ward rounds per week.
At a press conference on Monday, Mr McDonald said that two neonatal experts had reviewed the cases of two babies – Baby O and Baby C – and found “no evidence of deliberate harm”.
He told reporters that he had “fresh evidence” that cast a significant doubt on the conviction.
The prosecution said Letby was convicted on a multitude of evidence from specialists, and that the defence could have called rebuttal witnesses but chose not to.
Cheshire Constabulary is continuing inquiries into Letby and interviewed her at HMP Bronzefield earlier this month.
Mr McDonald insisted his client “maintains her innocence” and said he has dozens of experts ready to give evidence on her behalf.
