Expert 'changed mind' over deaths, say Letby lawyers

Lucy Letby's lawyers have said they will be asking the Court of Appeal to immediately review all of her convictions because an expert witness "has now changed his mind on the cause of death of three babies".

The former nurse is serving 15 whole-life jail terms for murdering seven babies and trying to kill seven others while working as a neo-natal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Her barrister Mark McDonald told a news conference in London that the lead prosecution expert, Dr Dewi Evans, had allegedly altered his view about how the babies died.

He said: "Remarkably, Dr Evans has now changed his mind on the cause of death of three of the babies: Baby C, Baby I and Baby P."

The BBC has contacted Dr Evans for a response. He has not yet commented on Mr McDonald's claims.

Letby was convicted in August 2023 and has twice previously been refused permission to appeal against her convictions.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the court had previously rejected "[Letby's] argument that expert prosecution evidence was flawed".

Mr McDonald said: "The primary grounds of appeal at the previous hearings related to the admissibility before the jury of the evidence of the lead prosecution expert Dr Dewi Evans.

"The defence argued twice at trial that Dr Evans' evidence should be disregarded. This was refused by the trial judge.

"It was then later argued in the Court of Appeal, and was refused in the court of appeal."

The barrister added: "Dr Evans had said to the jury that Lucy Letby had injected air down a nasal gastric tube and this had led to the death of the three babies.

"This was repeated to the Court of Appeal, who may have been misled when they ruled on the application for leave against the convictions."

He said Dr Evans had "revised his opinion in relation to Baby C" and had written a new report which he had given to police months ago.

But, he said "despite numerous requests" the prosecution had "yet to give this report to the defence".

"The defence will argue that Dr Evans is not a reliable expert, and all the convictions are not safe," Mr McDonald said.

Dr Evans previously told BBC File on Four that Baby C was likely to have died due to "a combination of air and milk" pumped via the nasogastric tube into the stomach, which differed from what he had said in court when he only mentioned air.

Following his appearance on the programme, he told the BBC it had led him "to review the events leading up to Infant C's collapse and death" and thought it "more likely" that it was an injection of air into the bloodstream, although he stressed either would be "inflicted injury".

Mr McDonald said he also had reports from two neonatologists that he claims count as fresh evidence in the cases of Baby C and Baby O, with no evidence of deliberate harm.

The CPS said two juries and three appeal court judges had "reviewed a multitude of different strands of evidence against Lucy Letby".

The CPS added: "She has been convicted on 15 separate counts following two separate jury trials.

"In May, the Court of Appeal dismissed Letby's leave to appeal on all grounds – rejecting her argument that expert prosecution evidence was flawed."

Mr McDonald, who began representing Letby three months ago, said he would apply directly to the Court of Appeal to to push for her case to be reopened and separately to the Criminal Cases Review Commission to ask for the case to be reviewed.

He said the application was unprecedented because it was a direct approach to the court, which has already twice denied permission to appeal.

The nurse, 34, originally from Hereford, was convicted of the murders and attempted murders while working at the hospital between 2015 and 2016.

She made two attempts to kill one of her victims.

The Thirlwall Inquiry into how Letby was able to commit her crimes has been hearing evidence at Liverpool Town Hall since September.

It will resume in January, with findings expected to be published in autumn 2025.

During Lucy Letby's nine-month trial, the court heard extensive evidence about the deaths.

Baby C

The court was told the premature baby boy weighed just 800g (1lb 12oz) when he was born in early June 2015, but despite that, medics recorded that he was in a "good condition" and stable.

He was being kept in the highest priority section of the neonatal unit, but on the night of 13 June, he suddenly stopped breathing.

The court heard Letby, who was the designated nurse in a different section but was present when Baby C collapsed, caused the issue at about 23:15 BST by inserting air into his stomach via a nasogastric tube.

Medics failed to revive him and he was pronounced dead at 05:58 on 14 June.

Baby I

The trial heard Baby I was born prematurely at Liverpool Women's Hospital and transferred to the Countess of Chester on 18 August 2015.

On 30 September, the baby girl vomited and her heart rate dropped.

She suddenly collapsed again on 13 and 14 October before a fatal deterioration on 23 October.

The prosecution said Letby murdered Baby I at the fourth attempt by administering a fatal dose of air into her bloodstream.

Dr Evans told the trial his "opinion" was that Baby I "had been subjected to an infusion of air".

"In other words, air had been injected into her stomach. That interferes with your ability to move your diaphragm up and down, and that interferes with your breathing," he said.

Baby P

The court was told Baby P was in the same room as his triplet brother Baby O, who also died, on the neonatal unit.

After the death of his brother, he was put under close observation as a precaution and at 09:35 BST on 24 June 2016, the baby boy was found to be "self-ventilating in air" and stable.

Fifteen minutes later, he collapsed and required breathing support.

He collapsed several more times on 24 June before being pronounced dead at 16:00 after 45 minutes of unsuccessful resuscitation attempts.

Dr Evans told the trial that, in his view, the collapses were consistent with an "additional amount of air being given to this baby during the morning of 24 June".

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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