Expert witness ‘changed mind’ over deaths, say Lucy Letby lawyers
Cheshire PoliceLawyers for Lucy Lebby say they will ask the Court of Appeal to immediately review all of her convictions because an expert witness has “now changed his mind” about the cause of the deaths of three babies.
The former nurse is currently serving 15 life sentences for murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven others while working as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Her lawyer Mark McDonald told a news conference in London that lead prosecution expert Dr Devi Evans had allegedly changed his mind about the cause of the baby’s death.
He said: “It is noteworthy that Dr Evans has now changed his view on the cause of death of three babies: Baby C, Baby I and Baby P.”
The BBC was unable to confirm Mr McDonald’s claims. Dr Evans has yet to respond to his claims.
Lebby was convicted in August 2023 and has Appeals against her conviction had been rejected twice before.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the court had previously rejected “[Lebby’s]arguments that the expert prosecution evidence was flawed”.
Mr McDonald said: “The main ground of appeal at the previous hearing concerned whether the evidence of lead prosecution expert Dr Devi Evans was admissible to the jury.
“The defense argued twice during the trial that Dr Evans’ evidence should be ignored. This was rejected by the trial judge.
“It was later argued and dismissed in the Court of Appeal.”
“unreliable”
The barrister added: “Dr Evans told the jury that Lucy Lebby injected air through a nasogastric tube, which caused the deaths of the three babies.
“The Court of Appeal repeated the point that the Court of Appeal may have been misled in ruling on the conviction application.”
He said Dr Evans had “revised his view” of Baby C and wrote a new report which was submitted to police several months ago.
However, he said that “despite repeated requests,” prosecutors “have not yet provided this report to the defense.”
“The defense will argue that Dr Evans was not a reliable expert and that all convictions were unsafe,” Mr McDonald said.
McDonald said he had also received reports from two neonatologists, which he claimed could serve as new evidence in the cases of Baby C and Baby O and that there was no evidence of intentional harm.
The CPS said two juries and three Court of Appeal judges had “examined a large and diverse body of evidence” against Lucy Lebby.
The statement added: “After two separate jury trials, she was found guilty of 15 different offences.
“In May, the Court of Appeal refused Lebby’s leave to appeal on various grounds – rejecting her argument that the expert prosecution evidence was flawed.”
PAMr McDonald, who started representing Lebby three months ago, said he would apply directly to the Court of Appeal to push for a re-opening of her case and separately to the Criminal Cases Review Commission to ask for a review of the case.
He said the application was unprecedented because it was made directly to the court, which has twice rejected appeals.
The 34-year-old nurse, from Hereford, was found guilty of murder and attempted murder while working at the hospital in 2015 and 2016.
She twice tried to kill one of her victims.
Cheshire PoliceThe Thirlwall Inquiry has been hearing evidence at Liverpool City Hall since September into how Lebby committed the crimes.
The investigation will resume in January and findings are expected to be released in autumn 2025.
What impact did Leterby’s trial have on infant deaths?
During Lucy Letby’s nine-month trial, the court heard Extensive evidence of death.
Baby C
The court heard that the premature baby boy weighed just 800g (1lb 12oz) when he was born in early June 2015, but despite this, medical staff recorded that he was in “good condition” and stable.
He was placed in the most important ward of the neonatal ward, but on the night of June 13, he suddenly stopped breathing.
The court heard Letby was the designated nurse in another area but was present when Baby C collapsed and she caused the problem by injecting air into his stomach through a nasogastric tube at around 23:15 BST.
Paramedics were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at 5:58 a.m. on June 14.
baby me
The trial heard that Baby I was born prematurely at Liverpool Women’s Hospital and transferred to the Countess of Chester Hospital on August 18, 2015.
On September 30, the baby girl developed vomiting and her heart rate dropped.
From October 13th to 14th, she suddenly fainted again, and her condition worsened and became fatal on October 23rd.
Prosecutors said Lebby murdered Baby One by injecting a fatal dose of air into his bloodstream on a fourth attempt.
Dr Evans told the trial it was his “opinion” that Baby One “had been injected with air”.
“In other words, air is being injected into her stomach. This interferes with your ability to move your diaphragm up and down and interferes with your breathing,” he said.
Baby P
The court heard that Baby P lived in the same room as his triplet brother, Baby O, who also died in the neonatal ward.
Following the death of his brother, he was closely observed as a precaution and the baby boy was found to be “breathing on his own in the air” on 24 June 2016 at 09:35 BST and in a stable condition.
Fifteen minutes later, he collapsed and required respiratory support.
On June 24, he fell to the ground several times and was pronounced dead at 16:00 after 45 minutes of unsuccessful resuscitation attempts.
Dr Evans told the trial he believed the collapse was consistent with “an extra volume of air being given to the baby on the morning of June 24”.
Additional reporting by PA Media.
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