Families of six more babies allegedly harmed by Lucy Letby have lost their bid for the serial killer nurse to face further charges.
The infants allegedly collapsed while being treated at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where the former neo natal nurse once worked.
The Crown Prosecution Service revealed it was considering further charges against the 36-year-old, serving a whole life term behind bars, in November 2024.
But 14 months on, in January this year, the CPS decided there was insufficient evidence to proceed with new a total of 11 accusations involving nine babies, two of whom died.
Families of six of the babies asked for the decision to be reconsidered under the Victims’ Right to Review scheme – but this week, the CPS revealed its original refusal to charge Letby had been upheld.
Malcolm McHaffie, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said: ‘An extensive review of the case by a prosecutor independent of the original decisions, involving a re-examination of substantial evidence and material, has now been completed.
‘Six offences of attempted murder were reconsidered in relation to six babies, but the review upheld the original decision not to bring any further criminal charges.
‘The Crown Prosecution Service has written to the families involved and will offer meetings to answer any further questions. Our thoughts remain with them.’
Families of six babies asked for a review of the CPS’s decision not to press further charges against Lucy Letby, 36, who is serving a whole life sentence in prison
The CPS emphasised the result of the review ‘represents a final decision’ – adding that prosecutors have offered meetings with the bereaved families to explain our decision in further detail.
Letby is currently serving 15 whole life terms for the murder of seven babies and attempted murder of seven more – one of whom she attacked twice – at the Countess of Chester Hospital, between June 2015 and June 2016.
She injected air into their bloodstreams, or into their tummies via their nasal feeding tubes, overfed them milk, poisoned them with insulin and tampered with their breathing tubes in a bid to kill.
Following her convictions, over two separate trials at Manchester Crown Court, in 2023 and 2024, detectives pledged to continue investigating the ‘footprint’ of her four-year nursing career.
The decision to uphold the January decision not to charge Letby will be welcomed by her new defence team and campaigners, who are convinced she has been the victim of a miscarriage of justice and should be freed.
The potential extra charges, of eight attempted murders and one murder, came after police examined the medical records of around 4,000 babies Letby nursed at the Countess and Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she trained, and, in July, passed a file of evidence to prosecutors claiming she murdered and harmed more patients.
In January, the CPS said that, ‘following a thorough review,’ the evidence was not strong enough for a ‘realistic prospect’ of conviction by a jury.
Dr Dewi Evans, the former lead prosecution witness at Letby’s original trial, previously told the Mail he had concerns over the deaths of at least three children and the collapses of as many as 15 more, including another baby boy potentially poisoned with insulin and others whose breathing tubes were tampered with.
It is understood that the bulk of the new allegations related to displacement of breathing tubes, but Dr Evans said: ‘Babies can pull out breathing tubes on their own, so this would be very difficult to prove.’
Earlier this year, a source told the Mail that the ‘noise’ surrounding the safety of Letby’s original convictions ‘no doubt’ played into the CPS’s decision, which is likely to have been taken at the highest level.
Letby, formerly of Hereford, has always maintained her innocence but two applications for leave to appeal her convictions have already been refused by the Court of Appeal.
In February last year her new legal team presented reports from a panel of 14 international experts which, they say, casts doubt on the jury’s guilty verdicts.
Led by Canadian neonatologist, Dr Shoo Lee, the panel said no murders took place at the Countess and instead babies collapsed or died because of natural causes or poor care.
In April, their findings, plus that of another 12 experts, were submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body that investigates potential miscarriages of justice. It subsequently confirmed it is examining whether her case should be sent to the Court of Appeal for a third time.
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