Latest news with #CountessofChesterHospital
Daily Mail
15 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Nigel Farage becomes latest MP to cast doubt over Lucy Letby murder conviction
Nigel Farage has added his voice to growing concerns about the safety of Lucy Letby 's murder convictions, saying that he is 'getting more and more doubts'. The Reform UK leader was responding to a powerful article in the Daily Mail by Sir Jeremy Hunt, who was Health Secretary when the babies died at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Sir Jeremy called for an urgent re-examination of the case, saying: 'If Letby really did kill seven babies in their cots and attempted to kill seven more, no punishment short of the death penalty is too harsh. 'But if they were caused by professional shortcomings, we need to know why. 'More than anything else, we need to make sure other families don't have to go through the same tragedy.' He added he had noted the findings of the international panel of paediatric specialists and neonatologists, and had also read a 'wide range of expert concerns about the conduct of the criminal case'. Sir Jeremy said: 'Taken together... this analysis raises serious and credible questions about the evidence presented in court, the robustness of expert testimony and the interpretation of statistical data.' Mr Farage told GB News: 'I'm just beginning to get more and more doubts about that issue.' Since Letby lost her appeal last year a mass of evidence undermining the prosecution's case has been gathered by her new legal team. It has raised questions about the claim the nurse was on duty for every suspicious incident and over the testimony of Dr Dewi Evans, 75, the prosecution's chief expert witness. The Criminal Cases Review Commission, which deals with potential miscarriages of justice, is studying the new material, which includes evidence that Dr Evans changed his mind over how three babies died.
The Sun
6 days ago
- The Sun
I'm a wrongly convicted medic just like Lucy Letby – phony ‘experts' were negligent
A FORMER medic has claimed they were wrongly convicted, like Lucy Letby, alleging that phoney "experts" were negligent. David Sellu spent 15 months behind bars after being convicted of gross negligence manslaughter in 2013. 4 4 4 The former surgeon's trial relied heavily on evidence from medical expert witnesses called by the prosecution. However, in 2016, Sellu's conviction was quashed on appeal after the judge criticised how the expert evidence had been presented and handled. The judge noted that the experts had "asserted gross negligence" — a judgment that should have been left to the jury, not the experts. The ex-medical professional said: "It worries me that there will be miscarriages of justice from expert testimony. "As recently as the case of Lucy Letby, expert testimony is still being questioned." Former neonatal nurse Letby, now 34, was jailed for life last year for murdering seven infants and attempting to murder six others between 2015 and 2016 at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Chester. During her ten-month trial, which ended last August when she received a whole life sentence, it was revealed she injected her victims with air or insulin, overfed them and physically abused them with medical tools. An application to appeal against her sentence was rejected in February of this year. She was convicted across two trials at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others. The 35-year-old from Hereford is serving 15 whole-life orders. She lost two attempts to challenged her convictions at the Court of Appeal last year. Sellu was convicted over the death of a man at a private hospital in 2010, after the patient became seriously ill following knee surgery. Witnesses claimed the patient's condition deteriorated due to delays in treatment, which they attributed to the former surgeon. The now-exonerated doctor said he believes expert witnesses need proper training to ensure their evidence is unbiased and follows legal procedures. Sellu added: "There should be a benchmark that expert witnesses must achieve, because they are such an important bridge between medicine and the law in terms of being able to deliver justice." The former surgeon argued that expert witnesses play a vital role in the justice system, yet pose a risk due to a lack of training and unclear selection processes. Expert witnesses are used in most criminal trials, but are crucial in medical cases where jurors may struggle to understand complex terminology. There is little oversight of how these witnesses are appointed, despite some guidance being provided by the Crown Prosecution Service. This can cause serious problems as miscarriages of justice can occur when expert evidence is given which is biased, incorrect or unreliable. The charges Letby was convicted on in full hild A, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby injected air intravenously into the bloodstream of the baby boy. COUNT 1 GUILTY. Child B, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby attempted to murder the baby girl, the twin sister of Child A, by injecting air into her bloodstream. COUNT 2 GUILTY. Child C, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said Letby forced air down a feeding tube and into the stomach of the baby boy. COUNT 3 GUILTY. Child D, allegation of murder. The Crown said air was injected intravenously into the baby girl. COUNT 4 GUILTY. Child E, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby murdered the twin baby boy with an injection of air into the bloodstream and also deliberately caused bleeding to the infant. COUNT 5 GUILTY. Child F, allegation of attempted murder. Letby was said by prosecutors to have poisoned the twin brother of Child E with insulin. COUNT 6 GUILTY. Child G, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby targeted the baby girl by overfeeding her with milk and pushing air down her feeding tube. COUNT 7 GUILTY, COUNT 8 GUILTY, COUNT 9 NOT GUILTY. Child H, two allegations of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby sabotaged the care of the baby girl in some way which led to two profound oxygen desaturations. COUNT 10 NOT GUILTY, COUNT 11 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT. Child I, allegation of murder. The prosecution said Letby killed the baby girl at the fourth attempt and had given her air and overfed her with milk. COUNT 12 GUILTY. Child J, allegation of attempted murder. No specific form of harm was identified by the prosecution but they said Letby did something to cause the collapse of the baby girl. COUNT 13 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT. Child K, allegation of attempted murder. The prosecution said Letby compromised the baby girl as she deliberately dislodged a breathing tube. COUNT 14 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT. Child L, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said the nurse poisoned the twin baby boy with insulin. COUNT 15 GUILTY. Child M, allegation of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby injected air into the bloodstream of Child L's twin brother. COUNT 16 GUILTY. Child N, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby inflicted trauma in the baby boy's throat and also injected him with air in the bloodstream. COUNT 17 GUILTY, COUNT 18 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT, COUNT 19 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT. Child O, allegation of murder. Prosecutors say Letby attacked the triplet boy by injecting him with air, overfeeding him with milk and inflicting trauma to his liver with "severe force". COUNT 20 GUILTY. Child P, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said the nurse targeted the triplet brother of Child O by overfeeding him with milk, injecting air and dislodging his breathing tube. COUNT 21 GUILTY. Child Q, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby injected the baby boy with liquid, and possibly air, down his feeding tube. COUNT 22 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT. 4
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NHS Scheme to cut childbirth brain injuries extended
An NHS scheme to reduce brain injuries in childbirth will be rolled out nationally after a pilot across nine hospitals including six in the North West. The Department of Health said the scheme would help maternity staff "respond more effectively" in labour emergencies, including when a baby's head becomes lodged deep during a caesarean birth. Since October, hundreds of maternity staff across north-west England and London have been involved in developing the programme, which could prevent conditions like cerebral palsy. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "All expectant mothers giving birth in an NHS hospital should have peace of mind that they are in safe hands." He said the Avoiding Brain Injuries in Childbirth (ABC) scheme would "give staff across the country the right tools and training to deliver better care to women and their babies". It is hoped it will improve maternity staff's identification of when a baby is in distress during labour, leading to medics providing a quicker response. The six North West hospitals where the scheme was piloted included Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust and the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. A Department of Health spokesperson said it wanted to "reduce unacceptable inequalities in maternity outcomes across England – so that most maternity units achieve outcomes comparable to the highest-performing 20% of trusts". In 2024, an inquiry into traumatic childbirths called for an overhaul after finding poor care is "all-too-frequently tolerated as normal". Mr Streeting said the government was "supporting trusts to make rapid improvements and training thousands more midwives – but I know more needs to be done". "We will put women's voices right at the heart of our reforms as we work to improve care." The government said it was also "dedicated" to improving maternity services as well as "setting an explicit target to close the Black and Asian maternal mortality gap". Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, added: "The ABC programme supports multidisciplinary maternity teams to deliver safer, more personalised care. "We have heard what a difference it makes, supporting teams to work effectively together in time-sensitive and high-pressure situations. Gill Walton, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said the "key to the success" was "based on the voices of women, families and maternity staff". "Every midwife, maternity support worker, obstetrician, anaesthetist and sonographer wants to provide good, safe care – and the best way to do that is by working and training together." Read more stories from Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Scheme to cut brain injuries during birth to launch across England
An NHS scheme to reduce brain injuries in childbirth will be rolled out nationally after a pilot across nine hospitals including six in the North Department of Health said the scheme would help maternity staff "respond more effectively" in labour emergencies, including when a baby's head becomes lodged deep during a caesarean October, hundreds of maternity staff across north-west England and London have been involved in developing the programme, which could prevent conditions like cerebral palsy. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "All expectant mothers giving birth in an NHS hospital should have peace of mind that they are in safe hands." He said the Avoiding Brain Injuries in Childbirth (ABC) scheme would "give staff across the country the right tools and training to deliver better care to women and their babies".It is hoped it will improve maternity staff's identification of when a baby is in distress during labour, leading to medics providing a quicker six North West hospitals where the scheme was piloted included Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust and the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.A Department of Health spokesperson said it wanted to "reduce unacceptable inequalities in maternity outcomes across England – so that most maternity units achieve outcomes comparable to the highest-performing 20% of trusts". In 2024, an inquiry into traumatic childbirths called for an overhaul after finding poor care is "all-too-frequently tolerated as normal". Mr Streeting said the government was "supporting trusts to make rapid improvements and training thousands more midwives – but I know more needs to be done"."We will put women's voices right at the heart of our reforms as we work to improve care."The government said it was also "dedicated" to improving maternity services as well as "setting an explicit target to close the Black and Asian maternal mortality gap". 'Time-sensitive situation' Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, added: "The ABC programme supports multidisciplinary maternity teams to deliver safer, more personalised care."We have heard what a difference it makes, supporting teams to work effectively together in time-sensitive and high-pressure Walton, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said the "key to the success" was "based on the voices of women, families and maternity staff"."Every midwife, maternity support worker, obstetrician, anaesthetist and sonographer wants to provide good, safe care – and the best way to do that is by working and training together." Read more stories from Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Yahoo
Hospital bosses say new evidence casts doubt on UK nurse Letby's baby murder convictions
By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - A public inquiry examining how British nurse Lucy Letby was able to murder babies in her care should be suspended because new evidence casts real doubt on her convictions, the lawyer for the hospital's senior managers said on Tuesday. Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder eight more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital (COCH) in northern England, making her Britain's most prolific serial child killer of modern times. But medical experts have since publicly challenged the evidence on which she was convicted, casting doubt on whether the babies were murdered. Letby's lawyer has applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which examines potential miscarriages of justice, to have her convictions re-examined. "There now appears to be a real likelihood that there are alternative explanations for these deaths and unexplained collapses, namely poor clinical management and care and natural causes," Kate Blackwell, lawyer for the senior managers at the COCH, said in written submissions to the inquiry, set up to determine how the killings went undetected. She asked for the inquiry to be paused until there was clarity as to Letby's involvement in the deaths, as determined by a proper appeals process. "If there is evidence to indicate that there are alternative explanations, then it would be wrong for the inquiry to ignore it because it is inconvenient." On Monday, the inquiry chair Kathryn Thirlwall said at the start of closing submissions she would hear arguments why the inquiry should be paused after the managers, a senior lawmaker and Letby's own lawyer asked for a suspension. Amidst the doubts voiced about Letby's guilt, police are still investigating whether she murdered other babies, and have expanded their inquiry into possible corporate manslaughter at the COCH, which is focused on the hospital's senior leadership, to also consider gross negligence manslaughter by individuals. Blackwell said senior managers accepted they had got things wrong, but hoped the evidence to the inquiry had shown their actions were made in good faith. The lawyer said the managers vociferously denied accusations they "deliberately and knowingly" protected a murderer. She said if Thirlwall did not have the power to pause the inquiry, she should ask the health minister to do so.
