Lucy Letby: What next for the case after an expert panel found no evidence of murder?
BMJ 2025; 388 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.r300 (Published 13 February 2025) Cite this as: BMJ 2025;388:r300
- Elisabeth Mahase
- The BMJ
What has happened with the case so far?
Lucy Letby is serving 15 whole life terms in prison for murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven others while working as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital. The events took place between June 2015 and June 2016, but she was not charged until 2020 and was then convicted in two trials in 2023 and 2024.1 The Court of Appeal has twice refused her permission to appeal.
Letby’s new barrister, Mark McDonald, has now referred Letby’s case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission with the aim of having the case reopened.
On 4 February the findings of an investigation by a panel of 14 international experts into the cause of injury and death of the babies Letby is convicted of murdering or attempting to murder were made public.2
What did the expert medical panel find?
At a press conference in London panel chair Shoo Lee outlined the findings of the panel’s review. These included that there was “no medical evidence to support malfeasance” and that the deaths of the babies Letby was convicted of murdering and the harm caused to the babies she was convicted of attempting to murder resulted from “either natural causes or bad medical care.” Lee added that there was no medical evidence to indicate that Letby had injected air into the bloodstream of babies or had committed murder.2
Lee also outlined several issues at the Countess of Chester Hospital. These included that staff were caring for babies “probably beyond their expected ability or designated level of care”; unsafe delays in diagnosis and treatment and in transferring high risk infants to higher level …
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