A panel of 14 paediatric experts, led by Canadian neonatologist Dr Shoo Lee, has challenged the evidence that led to the conviction of British nurse Lucy Letby for murdering seven infants and attempting to kill seven others. During a news conference, Dr Lee stated that the panel found no evidence of murder, attributing the deaths to natural causes or substandard medical care instead. Letby, who has been sentenced to multiple life terms, has faced rejection in two appeal attempts. However, her defence lawyer Mark McDonald asserts there is now significant evidence that Letby was wrongfully convicted due to flawed medical testimonies.
The panel examined records of the newborns involved and suggested that diagnoses, such as air embolism, were inaccurately made and lacked substantial backing. Dr Lee emphasised that the clinical manifestations reported during the trial did not align with air embolism cases. Additionally, they dismissed the prosecution’s interpretation of various symptoms presented in the infants. A public inquiry into the hospital’s management and operational failures, which may also have contributed to the incidents, will conclude next month, but it won’t directly review evidence concerning Letby’s conviction.