Lucy Letby loses bid to challenge latest conviction

The 34-year-old former nurse had wanted to overturn a conviction from a retrial in June that she attempted to kill a baby on the neonatal unit where she worked.

“We conclude that the judge was right to find that Letby would be able to have a fair trial”

Court of Appeal judgement

Her lawyers argued that the media coverage of her previous convictions, for which she is currently serving multiple life sentences, meant that she was not subject to a fair retrial.

However, three senior judges at the Court of Appeal in London dismissed her request yesterday.

Lord Justice William David, Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mrs Justice McGowan ruled they would “refuse her application for leave to appeal the conviction”.

Letby was convicted in August 2023 of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit between 2015 and 2016.

She was then found guilty after a retrial in June this year of attempting to murder a seventh baby, known as Child K, for which the original jury could not reach a verdict.

Letby has already been refused permission to appeal her previous convictions and the judgement this week has now quashed her bid to appeal the most recent conviction.

A document setting out the Court of Appeal judgement outlined that, on the first day of the retrial, counsel for Letby had applied to the trial judge to stop the prosecution.

This request was on the basis that she would not receive a fair trial due to the extent of publicity that had come from the first trial.

However, Mr Justice Goss, judge at the retrial, refused this request and, on 2 July, Letby was convicted of attempted murder.

Letby’s legal team argued that the media coverage of the first trial was “so great and so sustained that no jury would be able to give the issues in the retrial fair consideration”.

Lawyers said that “the vitriolic nature of public comment and the prejudicial matters reported created exceptional prejudice”.

They cited newspaper articles that made comparisons between Letby and notorious serial killers Myra Hindley and Rose West and described her as “evil”.

In addition, they criticised “adverse comments” made by leading politicians, including former prime minister Rishi Sunak, about Letby’s failure to attend her sentencing hearing.

However, the three Court of Appeal judges said they did not accept these examples as reason for prejudice in a retrial.

The document said: “The outcome of the first trial undoubtedly led to an unusually large amount of publicity and online debate.

“That is because, on its facts, the case was extraordinary.

“Simply because the extent of the publicity was much greater than normally would be the case of itself did not generate prejudice.”

Meanwhile, Letby’s legal team also criticised comments made by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after the verdicts in August 2023, arguing that these too could have prejudiced the retrial.

Benjamin Myers KC, one of Letby’s lawyers, said police “had embarked on a media campaign… in emotionally charged circumstances”.

However, judges ruled this week that this was “an overstated description of what police officers did”.

The document said: “The notion that after a substantial criminal trial police officers involved in the investigation should not speak with a degree of freedom to the media is fanciful.

“If a person is convicted of multiple offences of the kind with which we are concerned, what the police say about the person is bound to be hostile. It hardly could be otherwise.”

Overall, the judges ruled that Mr Justice Goss had “unrivalled” experience as a criminal judge and that he took necessary steps to ensure the second prosecution was fair.

“We conclude that the judge was right to find that Letby would be able to have a fair trial,” said the document.

Judges did refer to the “significant media coverage” in recent months, that has called into question the evidence that was presented at her first trial.

It noted that some public comment had raised concerns about whether Letby ought to have been convicted in August 2023.

On this, they said: “Whether there are or may be issues arising from the first trial which have yet to be the subject of judicial consideration is not for us to say.  That would be speculative.

“This application will not involve any detailed analysis of the evidence called either at the first trial or the retrial.

“Our concern is solely whether the trial judge was wrong to rule that Letby could receive a fair trial in June 2024 and that it would be fair to try her.”

Letby’s legal team previously told the BBC that it had planned to ask the Criminal Cases Review Commission to review her case.

The independent public body can investigate potential miscarriages of justice in the criminal courts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A CPS spokesperson said: “We note the ruling of the court. The grounds of this appeal have been dismissed.

“Our thoughts remain with all the families affected by this case.”