UK Begins Inquiry Into Nurse Lucy Letby Case

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Facts

  • The UK government opened a public inquiry Tuesday into the events at the Countess of Chester hospital’s neonatal unit where former nurse Lucy Letby worked from 2015 -2016. Letby was sentenced to life in prison last year for killing seven infants and attempting to kill seven others.[1]
  • The inquiry, led by the senior Court of Appeal's Lady Justice Thirlwall, is expected to probe three areas of concern — the experience of the victims' parents, the conduct of the hospital's staff, and the broader culture of the National Health Service (NHS).[2]
  • Counsel for the inquiry, Rachel Langdale KC, said that while the death of Baby A was 'unusual' and 'unexpected,' it wasn't considered 'malicious' at the time. She added that the death of Baby C was the only one for which a doctor attended the unexplained death meeting.[2]
  • Other evidence provided showed that two hospital managers at the time defended Letby and called the accusations 'circumstantial.' Others were skeptical of Letby because the first deaths occurred during her day shifts, and two others occurred after she was shifted to nights.[3]
  • Letby was charged with overfeeding the babies, poisoning them with insulin, and injecting them with air. A cache of notes including 'I am evil, I did this' was presented as key evidence, though it was recently revealed that these were written after counselors advised Letby put down her thoughts to deal with stress.[1][4]
  • While Letby already failed to appeal her conviction earlier this year, a lawyer who previously defended a nurse charged with similar crimes said he plans on filing another petition before the Criminal Cases Review Commission.[1]

Sources: [1]Al Jazeera, [2]The Telegraph (a), [3]Independent and [4]The Telegraph (b).

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Spiked. Letby was handed multiple life sentences because she was at the scene of all seven infant deaths, it was proven that the babies were poisoned, and she wrote an incriminating note. It's unfortunate that armchair detectives are still pushing theories about her innocence online. It's time to turn the page from this open-and-shut case.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Independent. Letby could successfully appeal her conviction. One of the main pieces of evidence against her was a doctor who claimed he saw her standing over a dying baby, but this could've been hearsay. These could've potentially been the words of a nurse feeling guilty over the death of a baby. Given the amount of public support Letby has, it's worth reviewing this case one more time.