CPS admits errors in Lucy Letby trial related to evidence from ‘door evidence’

The prosecution acknowledged that evidence was presented at Lucy Letby's trial about which staff entered and left the infant ward.

Letby is serving 15 life sentences for seven murders and seven attempted murders of babies in her care at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.

A life sentence means Letby will spend the rest of her life in prison, with no minimum term or the possibility of early release. Letby was initially serving 14 life sentences for seven murders and seven attempted murders, which were imposed on her last year.

A retrial was ordered for the attempted murder of a little girl, known as Child K, after the first jury was unable to reach a verdict.

A second jury took only three and a half hours to find Letby guilty of the crime.

During the retrial, it was revealed that Letby had deliberately attacked the baby after it had been moved from the delivery room to the neonatal unit shortly after its premature birth.

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC told the court that door card data showing which nurses and doctors entered and left the intensive care unit had been “mislabelled”.

The prosecution confirmed that a discrepancy had been identified regarding a door in the neonatal intensive care unit and that it had been corrected for redelivery.

A spokesman said: “Two juries and three appeal judges considered a wide variety of evidence against Lucy Letby and she was found guilty on 15 different counts in two separate jury trials.

“We confirm that accurate data regarding door swipe data was presented in the retrial.

“We have clarified this issue transparently and corrected it for the retrial. We are convinced that this issue had no significant impact on the prosecution, which included several strands of evidence.”

In the first trial, the prosecution said that specialist Dr. Ravi Jayaram discovered Letby standing over Baby K at 3:50 a.m. on February 17, 2016. The baby's condition had worsened and his breathing tube had become loose.

Prosecutors said door scan data showed the nurse in charge of the baby left the intensive care unit at 3:47 a.m. But at the retrial, the data was altered to show the nurse had returned at that time, meaning Letby was not alone.

This came after former Cabinet Minister Sir David Davis said The Independent He was to lead an investigation that questioned Letby's conviction after a number of experts expressed doubts about her guilt.

Sir David said he hoped to visit Letby in prison as part of the investigation into whether the serial baby killer may have been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Several medical professionals have expressed doubts about Letby's conviction. In a podcast, statistician Peter Elston and retired pediatrician Michael McConville claimed that the medical evidence presented during her trial was insufficient.

Despite her conviction, Letby continues to maintain her innocence and told jurors during the trial that she was “not the kind of person who would kill babies.”

The Independent has contacted the CPS for comment.