UK prosecutors consider further charges against baby killer Lucy Letby
Letby, 35, is already serving life in jail and will never be released after being found guilty of attacking the newborns and attempting to kill eight more at the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in northern England between June 2015 and June 2016.
Letby, Britain's worst serial child killer of modern times, has maintained her innocence throughout but has been refused permission to appeal. Her lawyers are seeking to have the case reviewed, saying there are serious doubts over whether she was guilty of any crimes.
However, following her convictions, police said they were examining whether she had committed further crimes while at the Chester hospital, or at the unit where she had previously worked, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it was now examining the evidence.
"We can confirm that we have received a full file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary asking us to consider further allegations in relation to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women's Hospital," a CPS spokesperson said.
"We will now carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought."
It said a referral by police did not mean charges would follow.
Since Letby was jailed, some lawmakers and medical experts have publicly challenged the prosecution evidence that was used to find her guilty, with some experts querying whether any babies had actually been murdered at all.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission, which examines potential miscarriages of justice, is currently considering an application from Letby's legal team, and her lawyer Mark McDonald said on Wednesday the evidence of her innocence was "overwhelming".
"We will cross every bridge when we get to it, but if Lucy is charged I know we have a whole army of internationally renowned medical experts who will totally undermine the prosecution's unfounded allegations," McDonald said in a statement.
On Tuesday, detectives said they had arrested three unnamed senior members of the hospital's leadership team as part of their separate investigation into individuals and the Chester hospital itself.
"Both the corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter elements of the investigation are continuing, and there are no set timescales for these," said Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, who is leading the investigation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
a day ago
- CNA
Sengkang murder: Suspect taken back to crime scene
Scroll up for the next video X Sengkang murder: Suspect taken back to crime scene
CNA
2 days ago
- CNA
UK's Palestine Action loses bid to pause ban as terrorist group
LONDON: Pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action 's co-founder on Friday (Jul 4) lost a bid to pause the British government's decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws, though the group is launching an urgent appeal. Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, asked London's High Court to stop the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, before a full hearing of her case that banning the group is unlawful later this month. British lawmakers this week decided to ban Palestine Action after its activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged two planes in protest against what the group says is Britain's support for Israel. Proscription would make it a crime to be a member of Palestine Action that carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Palestine Action has increasingly targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain, often spraying red paint, blocking entrances or damaging equipment. The group accuses the British government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in its ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Israel has repeatedly denied committing abuses in its war in Gaza, which began after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023. Ammori's lawyer Raza Husain said the proscription marked the first time Britain had sought to ban a group carrying out such direct action, describing it as "an ill-considered, discriminatory, authoritarian abuse of statutory power". Critics of the government's decision, including some United Nations experts and civil liberties groups, have also argued that damaging property does not amount to terrorism. DEFENCE FIRMS TARGETED The group has particularly focused on Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems and Britain's government cited a raid at an Elbit site last year when it decided to proscribe the group. The decision to ban the group came as four members were charged over the incident at the RAF Brize Norton air base, in which military planes were sprayed with red paint. Husain said that was the only example of action targeting a government or military facility and all previous incidents were against private companies to support his argument against designating Palestine Action as terrorist. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Britain's interior minister, has said that violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest and that Palestine Action's activities pass the threshold for proscription. Judge Martin Chamberlain ruled against Ammori's bid to pause the ban, meaning the proscription of Palestine Action will come into force at midnight. Husain asked for a temporary pause until Monday pending an appeal but Chamberlain refused, saying: "You are going to have to trouble the Court of Appeal tonight."
CNA
2 days ago
- CNA
Fernvale Road murder suspect revisits crime scene with police
A man charged with the murder of a 79-year-old woman at Sengkang was taken back to the crime scene by the police on Jul 4. If convicted, 44-year-old Lim Yuen Li faces the death penalty. Charlotte Lim reports.
