Lucy Letby: Experts tell BBC about medical evidence concerns

Senior doctors and scientists have told the BBC they have concerns about how crucial evidence was presented to the jury at Lucy Letby's trials.

The BBC’s File on 4 has examined how expert witnesses helped to build the case against the former nurse.

The programme raises concerns about how courts grapple with cases of significant medical complexity - with the juries in Letby’s two trials presented with huge amounts of complicated medical evidence relating to each child.

The experts who spoke to the BBC raise questions about the amount of insulin she needed to harm babies in her care, the health condition of one of the babies she was convicted of murdering, and pathology findings presented to the jury.

A public inquiry is under way to establish how Letby was able to murder and injure babies. At its opening Lady Justice Thirlwall was scathing about those who have questioned the verdicts, saying this was causing “enormous additional distress to the parents”.

Last month some of the families of the babies gave evidence at the inquiry.

Each of the experts interviewed by File on 4 acknowledge how difficult it must be for the families to hear doubts raised about the trials. However, they say they feel so strongly about the evidence they felt compelled to speak out.

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Source: BBC News, 1 October 2024