24 October 2024 , 13:31
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Lucy Letby is currently serving 15 whole life orders for the murders and attempted murders of babies in her care while she worked as a neonatal nurse in the Countess of Chester Hospital
Child serial killer Lucy Letby has failed in her bid to have her latest conviction for the attempted murder of a baby girl overturned.
The 34-year-old had asked three senior judges for approval to challenge her conviction for trying to kill the newborn, known as Child K, following a retrial in July, for which she was sentenced to a 15th whole life order.
The hearing before Lord Justice William Davis, Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mrs Justice McGowan took place today at the Court of Appeal. Letby was previously been sentenced to 14 whole life orders for the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others, with two attempts on one child.
A bid to appeal against those convictions was dismissed in May. Following her first trial, which ran from October 2022 to August 2023, the jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case of Child K.
A second jury took just three-and-a-half hours to convict her at the retrial at Manchester Crown Court. Jurors were told that Letby targeted the “very premature” infant during a night shift in the early hours of February 17 2016.
On Thursday, lawyers for the former nurse told the Court of Appeal that the attempted murder charge should have been “stayed” as an “abuse of process” due to “overwhelming and irremediable prejudice” caused by media coverage of her first trial, and that the retrial should not have gone ahead.
But three senior judges dismissed Letby’s bid following the hearing in London.
Lord Justice William Davis, sitting with Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mrs Justice McGowan, said at the start of their ruling that they would “refuse permission” for Letby to challenge the conviction.
Letby with newborn baby Alvin ( Image: Emily Morris / SWNS)
The trial heard she dislodged Child K’s breathing tube after she was moved from the delivery room to the unit’s intensive care unit. Prosecutors said she was caught “virtually red-handed” by a colleague, consultant paediatrician Dr Ravi Jayaram, as he entered Nursery 1 at about 3.45am.
He intervened and resuscitated Child K. Dr Jayaram told jurors he saw “no evidence” that she had done anything to help the deteriorating baby as he walked in and saw her standing next to the infant’s incubator.
Giving evidence during her trial, Letby said she had no recollection of the event described by Dr Jayaram and did not accept it had taken place. Child K was transferred, as planned, to a specialist hospital later on February 17 because of her extreme prematurity, and died there three days later.
The sentencing judge, Mr Justice Goss, said that Child K was “exceptionally vulnerable” and that the attack was “another shocking act of calculated callous cruelty”. After being sentenced, Letby, of Hereford, said “I’m innocent” as dock officers led her away.
On Thursday, her barrister Benjamin Myers KC told the court that media coverage before the retrial was "saturated with unadulterated vitriol towards Ms Letby", which included comments by police officers and members of the Crown Prosecution Service that created "powerful prejudice against the defendant".
He said: "It really is not what should happen at all and in the circumstances of this case, bearing in mind all that had already happened, the public interest could be met by finding that there was an abuse (of process)."
The CPS opposed the appeal, with Nick Johnson KC telling the court on Thursday that the bid was "misguided" and that media reporting had been "mischaracterised".
He said: "What was said by police in the aftermath of the convictions in the first trial was reasonable and it accurately and moderately described the horrendous offences (for) which this applicant had been convicted."
Letby’s barrister, Mark McDonald, previously told the BBC that he planned to apply to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to review Letby’s case. The CCRC investigates potential miscarriages of justice and can refer cases back to the Court of Appeal for consideration.
Meanwhile, a public inquiry into the events surrounding Letby’s crimes, chaired by judge Lady Justice Thirlwall, continues at Liverpool Town Hall after beginning last month. The judge said inquiry hearings would finish in early 2025 and she expected to publish her findings by late autumn that year.
A court order prohibits reporting of the identities of the surviving and dead children involved in the case.