Expert witness ‘changed mind’ on death, Lucy Letby’s lawyers say

Lucy Letby’s lawyers have said they will ask the Court of Appeal to immediately review all her convictions because an expert witness has “now changed his mind about the cause of death of three children”.

The former nurse is 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 the leading prosecution expert, Dr Dewi Evans, had allegedly changed his view on how the babies died.

He said: “Remarkably, Dr Evans has now changed his mind about the cause of death for three of the babies: Baby C, Baby I and Baby P.”

Dr Evans has yet to respond to McDonald’s claims. The BBC has contacted him for comment.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the court had previously rejected “(Letby’s) argument that expert prosecution evidence was deficient”.

Mr McDonald said: “The primary grounds of appeal at the earlier hearings concerned the admissibility before the jury of the evidence of the lead prosecution expert Dr Dewi Evans.

“The defense argued twice during the trial that Dr Evans’ evidence should be discounted. This was refused by the trial judge.

“It has since been argued in the Court of Appeal, and rejected in the Court of Appeal.”

The barrister added: “Dr Evans had told the jury that Lucy Letby had injected air into a nasogastric tube and this had led to the death of the three babies.

“This was reiterated to the Court of Appeal who may have been misled in deciding the application for leave to appeal against the convictions.”

He said Dr Evans had “revised his opinion in relation to Baby C” and had written a new report which he had given to police months ago.

But, he said “despite numerous requests” the prosecutor had “yet to provide this report to the defense”.

“The defense will argue that Dr. Evans is not a reliable expert, and all convictions are not certain,” McDonald said.

Mr McDonald said he also had reports from two neonatologists which he claims count as fresh evidence in the cases of Baby C and Baby O, with no evidence of intentional harm.

The CPS said two juries and three appeal court judges had “reviewed a wide range of evidence against Lucy Letby”.

It added: “She has been convicted on 15 separate counts following two separate jury trials.

“In May, the Court of Appeal rejected Letby’s leave to appeal on all grounds – rejecting her argument that the prosecution’s expert evidence was deficient.”

Mr Mcdonald, who began representing Letby three months ago, said he would apply directly to the Court of Appeal to push for her case to be reopened and separately to the Criminal Cases Review Commission to request that the case be reviewed.

He said the application was unprecedented because it was a direct appeal to the court, which has already twice refused leave to appeal.

The nurse, 34, originally from Hereford, was convicted of the murders and attempted murders while working at the hospital between 2015 and 2016.

She made two attempts to kill one of her victims.

The Thirlwall inquiry into how Letby was able to commit his crimes has been hearing evidence at Liverpool Town Hall since September.

It will resume in January, and the results are expected to be published in the fall of 2025.

The court was told that the premature boy weighed just 800g (1lb 12oz) when he was born in early June 2015, but despite that doctors recorded that he was in “good condition” and stable.

He was kept in the highest priority section of the neonatal unit, but on the night of June 13, he suddenly stopped breathing.

The court heard that Letby, who was a designated nurse in another ward but was present when Baby C collapsed, caused the problem at around 11.15pm BST by introducing air into his stomach via a nasogastric tube.

Doctors failed to revive him and he was pronounced dead at 05:58 on 14 June.

The trial heard that Baby I was born prematurely at Liverpool Women’s Hospital and was transferred to the Countess of Chester on 18 August 2015.

On September 30, the little girl vomited and her heart rate dropped.

She suddenly collapsed again on 13 and 14 October before a fatal deterioration on 23 October.

Prosecutors said Letby murdered Baby I on the fourth attempt by administering a lethal dose of air into her bloodstream.

Dr Evans told the trial that his “opinion” was that Baby I “had been subjected to an infusion of air”.

“In other words, air had been injected into her stomach. It interferes with your ability to move your diaphragm up and down, and it interferes with your breathing,” he said.

The court was told Baby P was in the same room as his triplet brother Baby O, who also died, in the neonatal unit.

Following his brother’s death, he was placed under close observation as a precaution and at 09:35 BST on 24 June 2016, the boy was found to be “self-ventilating on air” and stable.

Fifteen minutes later he collapsed and needed respiratory support.

He collapsed several more times on 24 June before being pronounced dead at 4:00 PM after 45 minutes of unsuccessful resuscitation efforts.

Dr Evans told the court that he believed the collapse was consistent with an “additional amount of air being given to this child during the morning of June 24”.

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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