Lucy Letby, a former neonatal nurse convicted of multiple infant murders and attempted murders at the Countess of Chester Hospital, remains at the center of intense scrutiny following the publication of the Thirlwall Inquiry’s final report. The inquiry’s findings have reopened debate over the safety of her convictions and whether her case warrants referral to the Court of Appeal.
The report revisits distressing incidents involving identical twins known as Babies E and F, born prematurely in August 2015. According to testimony presented to Lady Justice Thirlwall, on the evening of August 3, the mother of the twins observed one baby, Baby E, crying with blood around his mouth. Nurse Letby was present but, the mother said, responded brusquely and avoided eye contact, a departure from her previously kind demeanor. The mother came to believe she had interrupted Letby during an attack on her child.
Baby E subsequently suffered another bleeding episode, collapsed and died despite resuscitation efforts. Letby later bathed Baby E and selected clothes for his burial, additionally creating a memory box without the knowledge or consent of the parents—a detail that caused ongoing distress to the mother. A doctor’s failure to conduct a full review led to Baby E’s death initially being classified as natural causes. The mother’s concerns and evidence of bleeding went unrecorded in nursing notes and were largely disregarded at the time. The parents declined a postmortem examination.
Letby was later convicted of Baby E’s murder and the attempted murder of Baby F, who was left with lasting impairments due to insulin poisoning, a diagnosis missed during the initial investigations. The mother described the enduring grief for the loss of Baby E as well as for the life Baby F might have had before his injuries.
While the inquiry’s detailed report documents these accounts, Letby has consistently denied wrongdoing. She maintains her innocence through legal avenues, and her current counsel, Mark McDonald, has submitted around 30 new expert reports to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. These reports, including one from Professor Shoo Lee, argue that there is no evidence supporting the charge of murder, calling into question aspects of the original trial evidence.
Letby is currently serving 15 whole life sentences handed down after two trials, covering seven murders and eight attempted murders. She faced 22 charges initially, with two acquittals and six attempted murder charges left without verdicts at the conclusion of her first trial. One of these counts, involving a patient referred to as Baby K, was retried and resulted in a further conviction in 2024.
The Thirlwall Inquiry’s findings have added further complexity to the case, which continues to exist in a contested space between convictions upheld by the courts and ongoing claims of innocence supported by new expert analyses. The path forward for Letby will depend on the response of the Criminal Cases Review Commission and the courts to these renewed challenges.