Latest news with #miscarriageofjustice
The Independent
2 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Jeremy Hunt says Lucy Letby's case must be urgently re-examined
Sir Jeremy Hunt is calling for an 'urgent re-examination' of the case of convicted murderer Lucy Letby. It comes just months after the former health secretary apologised to the families of the former nurse's victims at a public inquiry. The Conservative MP pleaded for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to 'speed up their normally painfully slow process'. The CCRC, which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, is considering evidence presented by Letby's legal team from an international panel of medics. They claim that poor medical care and natural causes were to blame for the babies collapsing at the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit. Letby, 35, is serving 15 whole-life orders after being convicted across two trials at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016. Giving evidence in January at the Thirlwall Inquiry over Letby's crimes, Sir Jeremy – who was health secretary between 2012 and 2018 – acknowledged the 'appalling crime' took place under his watch. He said he bore ultimate responsibility for the NHS 'insofar as lessons were not learned from previous inquiries that could have been or the right systems were not in place'. Lucy Letby has been convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others (PA Media) He said: 'I want to put on the record my apologies to the families for anything that did not happen that potentially could have prevented such an appalling crime.' Writing in the Daily Mail on Wednesday, Sir Jeremy said: 'I am not arguing that Letby is innocent. That is not my place. I believe in the separation of powers. It must never be the role of any politician to second-guess the outcome of any court decision, let alone a jury trial. 'The pain endured by the families affected must also be at the forefront of our minds. Their suffering is beyond our comprehension and they deserve compassion, respect and ongoing support. 'But most of all, they deserve the truth. And recently, some have begun to cast doubt on what actually happened. Were those tragic deaths caused by an evil woman or were they the result of medical error? 'As someone who has campaigned for more than a decade to reduce avoidable death, that matters to me. '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.' Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt apologised at the Thirlwall Inquiry to families of the victims of Lucy Letby (PA) Sir Jeremy said 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'. He said: 'Taken together – and it pains me to say it – this analysis raises serious and credible questions about the evidence presented in court, the robustness of expert testimony and the interpretation of statistical data. 'That is why I and parliamentary colleagues such as Sir David Davis, now believe the time has come for these concerns to be addressed as a matter of urgency.' He continued: 'While there is such a high degree of speculation about the potentially unfair prosecution of a healthcare professional, others will feel much more nervous about coming forward about mistakes they may have made. Lessons will not be learned and more babies will die. 'Justice must be done and seen to be done. And that means the CCRC has to speed up their normally painfully slow process.' He added that 'none of this should diminish the compassion we owe the families who have already suffered so much'. He said: 'Re-examination of the evidence is not a denial of their pain. But it will ensure that all of us can have confidence that the truth has been reached through a rigorous and fair process. 'And if medical error was the cause, we can then make sure no more babies die from the same mistakes.' Lucy Letby: Timeline of nurse who murdered seven babies Lawyers for the families of Letby's victims dismissed the medical panel's conclusions as 'full of analytical holes' and 'a rehash' of the defence case heard at trial. The mother of a baby boy who Letby attempted to murder said the families 'already have the truth'. They believe in the British justice system and the jury made the right decision, she said. The mother of another boy, Baby C, who Letby was convicted of murdering, told the Thirlwall Inquiry: 'The media PR campaign aimed to garner public sympathy for Letby demonstrates a complete lack of understanding for Letby's crimes and the complexity of the case. 'The misinformed and inaccurate media circus surrounding this case, our son and the other babies is potentiating the distress of all of the families involved.' Letby, from Hereford, lost two bids in 2024 to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal. One was in May, for seven murders and six attempted murders, and one was in October for the attempted murder of a baby girl, which she was convicted of by a different jury at a retrial. Cheshire Constabulary is continuing a review of deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neonatal units of the Countess of Chester and Liverpool Women's Hospital during Letby's time as a nurse from 2012 to 2016. A separate probe by the force into corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter at the Countess of Chester Hospital also remains ongoing. Lady Justice Thirlwall is due to publish the findings from her public inquiry in early 2026.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Lucy Letby: Jeremy Hunt calls for 'urgent re-examination' of killer nurse case
Former health secretary Sir Jeremy Hunt has called for an "urgent re-examination" of the Lucy Letby case after "serious and credible" questions were raised by Conservative MP pleaded for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, to "speed up their normally painfully slow process". The CCRC is considering evidence presented by Letby's legal team from an international panel of medics claiming poor medical care and natural causes were the real reasons for the deaths of the babies she was found guilty of said he and parliamentary colleagues such as Sir David Davis "now believe the time has come for these concerns to be addressed as a matter of urgency". Former nurse Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016 at the Countess of Chester said 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".He said: "Taken together - and it pains me to say it - this analysis raises serious and credible questions about the evidence presented in court, the robustness of expert testimony and the interpretation of statistical data."Giving evidence in January at the Thirlwall Inquiry into Letby's crimes, Hunt said: "I want to put on the record my apologies to the families for anything that did not happen that potentially could have prevented such an appalling crime." Writing in the Daily Mail newspaper on Wednesday, Hunt said he was not arguing that Letby is innocent, adding that "the pain endured by the families affected must also be at the forefront of our minds", but they deserved the truth."And recently, some have begun to cast doubt on what actually happened," Hunt said. "Were those tragic deaths caused by an evil woman or were they the result of medical error?"He said justice "must be done and seen to be done", adding that re-examination of the evidence was not a denial of the families' pain but would "ensure that all of us can have confidence that the truth has been reached through a rigorous and fair process"."And if medical error was the cause, we can then make sure no more babies die from the same mistakes," he added. Lawyers for the families of Letby's victims have dismissed the medical panel's conclusions as "full of analytical holes" and "a rehash" of the defence case heard at mother of one baby boy who Letby attempted to murder said the families "already have the truth" and they believed in the British justice system and that the jury made the right Constabulary is continuing a review of deaths and collapses of babies at the neonatal units of the Countess of Chester and Liverpool Women's Hospital during Letby's time as a nurse from 2012 to 2016.A separate inquiry by the force into corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter at the Countess is Justice Thirlwall is due to publish the findings from her public inquiry in early 2026. Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
The Sun
4 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
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Expert witnesses are ‘weakest link in English justice system', says wrongly convicted surgeon
David Sellu knows full well the impact an expert witness can have on the outcome of criminal case, and the lives of the people on trial. A former surgeon, Sellu spent 15 months in prison after being convicted of gross negligence manslaughter in 2013, following a trial that largely hinged on the evidence of medical expert witnesses brought by the prosecution. After an appeal in 2016, Sellu's conviction was quashed and the appeal judge criticised the way the expert evidence was handled, saying they 'asserted gross negligence' when this was 'a matter for [the jury] and not the experts'. 'I think I can probably say that there are many, many hundreds of people who would not be alive today had it not been for my skills and my treatment,' Sellu said. 'And yet medicine was deprived of my further input, purely on the back of a case that should never have been brought. 'It's affected my whole family, we've gone through a very difficult time. But we've come out of it all. We're carrying on as best we can.' He now speaks out about the issues with expert witnesses, particularly in cases involving medical professionals where the subjects being examined are often highly complex and expert witnesses act at the 'crucial bridge' between medicine and the law. 'My case was in 2015, it is now 2025 and I don't really believe that much has changed. It worries me that there will be miscarriages of justice from expert testimony,' Sellu said. 'As recently as the case of Lucy Letby, expert testimony is still being questioned.' Sellu was convicted over the death of a man at a private hospital in 2010 who suddenly fell ill after knee surgery. The patient's condition deteriorated due to delays to his care, which expert witnesses said amounted to gross negligence by Sellu. The exonerated doctor said he remained alarmed that there were no 'prescribed training programmes' for expert witnesses to ensure the evidence they give is unbiased, high quality and follows all legal procedure. '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,' he said. 'In my view, they are the weakest link in our justice system. They're not accredited, not properly trained, nobody really knows clearly how they're selected. And they play such a vital role in the delivery of justice that I think it's a shame that nobody has really grappled with this issue to try to get it fixed.' Expert witnesses are used in almost all criminal trials, but are particularly crucial in medical cases where a jury would struggle to understand and interpret complex terminology. They are appointed by both prosecution and defence lawyers, and although there is guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service, there is little oversight over how expert witnesses are appointed and what checks are carried out. One defence barrister said that lawyers often 'don't ask the questions' about the experts they're hiring, and 'work on the premise that people who are purporting to hold themselves out as experts, are experts'. Sellu said: 'The words 'expert witness' are a bit of a misnomer, because they're neither experts nor are they witnesses. Anybody can put themselves up as an expert witness, there's no clear accreditation. 'And they are the only people in the trial who give evidence who were not there at the time the alleged events took place – they're not witnesses, they're simply giving opinions.' In 2021 a judge asked the Crown Prosecution Service to investigate an eminent psychiatrist, Dr David Ho, who had been used by prosecutors as an expert witness in a large number of cases, after concerns were raised about him during a murder trial. In the case of a man accused of beheading his mother, who was found not guilty of manslaughter on the basis of insanity, defence lawyers said there were apparent errors in Ho's report and he allegedly refused to answer questions. Ho had concluded there was no evidence to suggest the defendant did not know what he was doing, a finding that was disputed by other consultant forensic psychiatrists. The judge said there was concerns that Ho 'had potentially lost the necessary degree of independence and objectivity, his awareness of his overriding duty to the court, and his approach to his task'. The CPS said an internal review had been carried out, and Dr Ho had not been used as an expert witness since. There have been a number of high-profile miscarriages of justice linked to inadequate medical expert evidence. Three men found guilty of murder in 1998 had their convictions quashed due to 'discredited' evidence by pathologist Dr Michael Heath, whose findings were questioned in a string of cases. Despite the concerns around the veracity of his work, he continued to practise and was under investigation by the General Medical Council at the time of his death in 2023. In the 1990s, evidence by paediatrician Sir Roy Meadow led to several wrongful convictions of mothers for murdering their babies. Sally Clark, Trupti Patel and Angela Cannings were all exonerated after evidence by Meadows, used as an expert witness by the prosecution, was proven incorrect. He misused statistics to convince a jury it was almost impossible for more than one sudden infant death to occur in the same family, and that it was much more likely to be murder. 'There is a real danger with expert evidence, because it is elevated evidence, so when it's wrong, it can lead to wrongful convictions and that's a real concern,' said Matt Foot, co-director of Appeal, which supported Sellu's case. 'Where the problem comes, and it has happened in many miscarriages of justice, is when expert evidence is given that is biased, inappropriate, or completely unreliable. 'Experts are not there for the police or the prosecution. They can feel obliged to provide evidence in a certain way when their duty is to the court for independence rather than to any party. That's the biggest danger, I think, because that danger leads to innocent people going to prison.' Expert witnesses are often also crucial in overturning miscarriages of justice, he said, but greater regulation or oversight would be beneficial. 'When things go wrong, there is no proper record anywhere that it has happened, and that you therefore need to treat this expert with great caution,' said Foot. 'That's not part of the system. So there are no safeguards in place to stop that happening again, with the same person.'
The Independent
6 days ago
- The Independent
He's fighting to clear his name for murder he says he didn't commit. But star witness still hasn't been contacted
It has been almost 18 months since Jason Moore submitted vital new evidence to the miscarriage of justice watchdog in a bid to overturn his murder conviction - but he is still no closer to freedom. The only witness to the crime had revealed he was drunk and was not sure if he identified the right man in an astonishing admission which Moore hopes could finally clear his name after 12 years in prison for a crime he insists he did not commit. But in nearly a year and a half the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which has just been put under 'urgent review' by the justice secretary, has failed to even speak to the witness. Frustrated at the lack of action, the Revd Dr Joanne Grenfell, Bishop of Stepney, stepped in to help. When she tried to contact Abdul Ahmed, who in 2023 revealed his doubts to an investigative journalist, she found him at home after simply knocking on his front door twice, The Independent can reveal. The bishop said the failure to carry out the most basic enquiries leaves her 'seriously concerned about the ability of the CCRC to do justice for anyone' as Moore languishes in prison. 'It wasn't that difficult, I went in the morning and he was there,' said Bishop Joanne, who is backing Moore's campaign for freedom. 'It's quite incredible that no one has been persistent in doing that. He clearly lives there and has lived there for quite a while.' She said the CCRC's efforts to contact Mr Ahmed were 'not good enough' as she hit out at the review body, which has come under sustained fire for its handling of other cases, including that of Andrew Malkinson who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. Last week, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood installed former victims' commissioner Dame Vera Baird as interim chair and ordered her to carry out an urgent review of the body, whose chief executive Karen Kneller has admitted she only goes to the office 'maybe one or two days every couple of months or so' while drawing an £130,000 taxpayer funded salary. MPs last month called for her step down after she was accused of misleading the justice committee as they quizzed her over the CCRC's handling of Mr Malkinson's wrongful conviction. An investigation led by Chris Henley KC found he could have been exonerated 10 years earlier if not for serious failings by the review board. He said it was 'absolutely shocking' that investigators had failed to establish contact with Mr Ahmed in 18 months since Moore's application, adding: 'Nobody should have to have to wait that amount of time.' He told The Independent the CCRC needs 'energetic, focussed and rigorous leadership' to properly investigate alleged miscarriages of justice. 'Every day when there's a lethargic approach – and there was lots of this in Mr Malkinson's case – is a day someone is losing from their life and that has to be at the forefront of the work of the CCRC,' he told The Independent. In a message from HMP Oakwood in Wolverhampton, Moore accused the CCRC's leaders of treating 'people's lives like they are toys', adding: 'To keep people in prison when you have evidence that exonerates them is a form of evil that needs to be squashed.' His sister Kirstie described the CCRC as 'shambolic' as she hit out at a string of excuses from the commissioner who is supposed to be examining his case. 'My brother's freedom hinges on the independence and diligence of the CCRC,' she told The Independent. 'They are our last hope when justice fails. Yet 18 months have passed, and the CCRC has nothing to show—no sign of a single effort, only a relentless succession of excuses. And still, Jason is the one paying the price for their weary resignation and neglect. 'To 'try' means to act—and thank God for Bishop Joanne Grenfell, who did just that. She knocked twice, and her efforts brought the witness to the door.' Moore, a former professional gambler, 53, claims he has been wrongly convicted of the 2005 stabbing of Robert Darby outside a pub in London's east end. A string of high-profile supporters, including Mr Darby's brother, Bishop Joanne and cricket legend Sir Ian Botham, have backed his bid to overturn his conviction Miscarriage of justice campaigner Lord Nicholas Monson, who has visited Moore in prison and is backing his fight, said such apathy makes it seem like the CCRC simply 'doesn't care'. 'These people are put in jobs to root out injustice and they are doing the opposite,' he added. Chairman of the justice committee Andy Slaughter welcomed the appointment of Dame Vera to carry out a 'much-needed' review of the CCRC, after the committee outlined 'strong concerns about how investigations were operating' in a report last month. A CCRC spokesperson said: "We have received an application in relation to this case and a review is underway. "We have made repeated efforts to contact all relevant parties. These efforts will continue. "It would be inappropriate for us to discuss the application further at this stage."
