Families of babies murdered by Lucy Letby rally to debunk claims serial child killer is innocent- and accuse of using her victimhood to defect attention from her heinous crimes
The families of babies murdered by Lucy Letby have rallied to debunk claims that the child killer is innocent and accused her of trying to defect attention from the heinous crimes.
The families of babies murdered by Lucy Letby have rallied to debunk claims that the child killer is innocent and accused her of trying to defect attention from the heinous crimes.
Speaking in closing submissions for an application to suspend the Thirlwall Inquiry, representatives for the families of the babies killed blasted the nurse.
Richard Baker KC, representing families of Letbys victims, said the applications to stop the inquiry were motivated by the desire from Britains most prolific child serial killer to attempt to control the narrative and for the executives to avoid criticism.
He added that there was nothing remarkable or new about recent medical evidence presented on her behalf.
The families representatives said the Free Letby campaign is based on flawed reasoning and factual errors and said it is fanciful to say alleged new evidence would have convinced the jury in the former nurses trial to reach a different verdict.
Mother D, whose baby daughter was murdered by Letby in June 2015, criticised the noise from ill- and misinformed people in a separate statement.
The families also accused Letbys barrister, Mark McDonald, of making hyperbolic, very serious, publicity-grabbing statements without fact checking.
It causes the families to feel, with some justification, that evidence is presented by Letbys team in order to create drama and headlines and that the proper basis for it is not being analysed or tested, they said.
Lucy Letby, 35, is serving 15 whole life sentences for the murder of seven babies and attempted murder of seven more
Supporters of Letby at a rally outside the High Court in London last year
The families also accused Letbys barrister, Mark McDonald (pictured), of making hyperbolic, very serious, publicity-grabbing statements without fact checking
It suggests to them that Letbys team are more concerned with publicity stunts than putting forward a properly reasoned or legally sound appeal.
The lawyers added: From Letbys perspective she is keen to control the narrative and prevent the events that occurred between June 2015 and June 2016 being set out in a way that she cannot control.
It is… an attempt by Letby to use her own victimhood as a way of deflecting attention away from her actions.
In response, the former nurses barrister McDonald said: We now have reports from 24 internationally renowned neonatal, surgical and pathology experts, from eight different countries, who are all the very best in the world.
They have comprehensively destroyed the prosecution case and have all agreed that Lucy Letby is innocent. The experts are clear that the jury was misled on key evidence, and that this has led to a wrongful conviction.
Since September the Thirlwall Inquiry has been examining how the former neonatal nurse was able to murder or attack 14 babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Evidence was completed last month and the final report is due to be published in November.
But the hospitals former executives and Letby requested a pause to the inquiry, pending the outcome of her latest challenge to her multiple convictions for murder and attempted murder.
On Wednesday, Lady Justice Thirlwall refused the application from the senior managers.
Letby (pictured) had twice appealed and failed to overturn her convictions
Image taken from body worn camera footage issued by Cheshire Constabulary of the arrest of Letby
Lady Justice Thirlwall (pictured), overseeing the inquiry, refused to pause it after applications from both Letbys lawyers and hospital executives
Kate Blackwell QC, representing former chief executive Tony Chambers, former medical director Ian Harvey, former director of nursing Alison Kelly and former HR director Sue Hodkinson, said there was a real possibility that Letbys convictions may be overturned, and to continue the report work would be unfair to her clients.
The former senior managers have also made a parallel request to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, to suspend the inquiry on similar grounds.
Letbys solicitors wrote to Lady Justice Thirlwall on Monday to suggest her final report would be redundant and likely unreliable unless proceedings were halted.
Last month, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists, working pro bono for Letbys defence team, told reporters that bad medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths attributed to Letby.
Those findings will be passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and the former nurses legal team hope her case will eventually be referred back to the Court of Appeal after two previous failed bids.
Sitting at Liverpool Town Hall, Lady Justice Thirlwall said: Im not satisfied that there is any unfairness in the current situation. I am satisfied that the process has been fair.
As I have said before, it is not the actions of Lucy Letby that I am scrutinising, it is the actions of all those who were in the hospital... and what they did at the time, in the light of what they knew at the time and in the light of what they should have known at the time.
There are already large numbers of concessions about what was not done and what should have been done. Those significant concessions come from the organisations and the hospital including the doctors and the managers.
Perhaps principle, and most obvious among the concessions made by just about everyone is the acknowledgement that there was a total failure of safeguarding at every level, and that will not change.
Protesters held signs labelling the killer a whistleblower who is being silenced outside the inquiry last week
It is a matter which has been debated at some length in the course of the inquiry and one that it seems to me will inevitably feature in any report.
Lady Justice Thirlwall said she expressed no view on the merits of Letbys application to the CCRC.
She said: It is clear that this will be a very lengthy process for the CCRC... it is inevitable that the pause being sought is of a length which is entirely outside of my control but it appears on the face of it to be a very lengthy one.
Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted across two trials at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.
Letbys barrister Mark McDonald said: It is a great shame that the inquiry has not taken on board the overwhelming evidence that Lucy Letbys convictions are unsafe and paused proceedings. Sadly, despite the millions of pounds that have been spent, any report and recommendations will one day be seen as unreliable and redundant.
I will continue to represent Ms Letby without fear or favour and ensure the many flaws in the case are put before the Court of Appeal. If the numerous experts who have come forward are right, a young innocent woman is in prison for crimes she has not committed.