Concerns have been raised about the way crucial evidence was presented to the jury in former nurse Lucy Letby’s trials, with senior doctors and scientists speaking out about the case. The BBC’s File on 4 carried out an investigation into the expert witnesses who helped build the case against Letby, who was found guilty of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six others at a hospital in the UK between June 2015 and June 2016. letby was also found guilty of attempted murder. Some experts have questioned the amount of insulin required to poison the babies in Letby’s care, the health of one of the babies she was convicted of killing, and pathology findings presented to the jury. While the experts acknowledge how difficult it must be for the families of the babies to hear doubts raised about the trials, they felt compelled to speak out due to concerns over the evidence.
Numerous questions were raised about the case, which was highly complex with huge amounts of complicated medical evidence being presented relating to each child. Some experts studied key medical evidence presented in court and raised concerns about how courts deal with such issues. The proliferation of doubts about Letby’s convictions has formed part of a public inquiry which is underway to establish how Letby was able to murder and injure babies. Lady Justice Thirlwall, who opened the inquiry, criticised those who had questioned the verdicts, stating that it causes “enormous additional distress to the parents”.
While Bile on 4 has spoken to a team of chemical and mechanical engineers who raised doubts about the trial’s insulin evidence as well as other experts concerned about the use of blood test, there were other pieces of evidence presented to the trial. In one instance, key to the case was an X-Ray of a baby referred to as, Baby C, which was referred to numerous times during Letby’s first trial. However, many have cast doubt on the evidence presented in this case. In the third instance, Letby was also found guilty of killing another baby referred to as Baby O by a pathologist for the prosecution, who reviewed the case.
None of the experts interviewed by BBC’s File on 4 made an evaluation of Letby’s guilt but added their concerns to growing speculation about how complex medical evidence was presented at her trials. In August, 24 experts wrote to the government to share their concerns over the way statistics and the science around newborn babies were presented to the jury in the former nurse’s first trial. Despite the concerns raised, two juries and three appeals court judges have reviewed the evidence against Lucy Letby, and she has been convicted on 15 separate counts following two separate trials. In May, the Court of Appeal dismissed Letby’s leave to appeal on all grounds, rejecting her argument that expert prosecution evidence was flawed
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