New lawyer: Strong arguments for the innocence of serial killer Lucy Letby

Mark McDonald said new medical evidence and expert opinions had revealed “deficiencies” that undermined the prosecution of the former nurse who was found guilty in two trials.

Letby was convicted of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of seven more babies (two attempted murders of a child) while she worked in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

When asked by Channel 5 News if there was a strong case for her innocence, Mr McDonald said: “Absolutely. And I will be writing the application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).”

“You know, I’m so encouraged by the number of people who have come forward: experts in neonatology, anesthesia, pathology, statistics; who have come forward and identified flaws in the process, who now want to testify on their behalf, and we want to write reports to submit to the CCRC in support.”

Letby is serving 15 life sentences – making her only the fourth woman in British history to be told she will never be released from prison.

Mr McDonald added: “We’re really looking at questions in terms of statistics. And I know it probably sounds quite bizarre to hear, ‘Well, what do statistics have to do with it?’

“You may recall that some bold claims were made during the trial, such as that there had been a rise in deaths and that she had always been on duty. But in fact, when some of the country’s leading statisticians analyzed these prosecution claims, they found such fundamental flaws that we believe undermine the conviction.”

In addition, new medical evidence was presented that contradicted the evidence presented by the prosecution’s experts at trial, McDonald said.

“We’re looking at neonatology first,” he continued.

“We’re looking at the whole idea around insulin, the insulin tests, whether those tests were reliable or not, whether the claim that insulin was present is true or not.”

The lawyer added that he would ask the CCRC to refer Letby’s case back to the Court of Appeal “on the basis of new evidence”, but said the process “could take a long time”.

Letby’s trial lasted ten months, from October 2022 to August 2023. A retrial was ordered after the jury failed to reach a verdict on one count of attempted murder of a little girl.

Mr McDonald compared Letby’s conviction to that of the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six – two groups of people who were wrongly accused of carrying out IRA pub bombings in the 1970s and whose convictions were later overturned.

“These were some of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history and yet they were found innocent,” he said.

The lawyer added that he had seen “quite a lot of evidence so far that there are real concerns” about Letby’s convictions.

A public inquiry into the events at the Countess of Chester Hospital following Letby’s multiple convictions is due to begin in Liverpool on 10 September.