The decision not to proceed with further prosecution of Lucy Letby, a nurse previously accused of harming six more babies, has been confirmed. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) determined in January that there would be no new criminal charges against Letby for alleged acts of attempted murder and murder involving nine children, including two fatalities, citing insufficient evidence to meet the required legal threshold.
Cheshire Constabulary had submitted a dossier of evidence to the CPS for review regarding allegations stemming from incidents during Letby’s tenure at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital between 2012 and 2016. Following this, six families under the Victims’ Right to Review scheme sought a reassessment of the CPS’s decisions regarding their children.
An exhaustive evaluation conducted by an independent prosecutor has upheld the original decision not to press additional charges against Letby, as stated by Malcolm McHaffie, head of the CPS’s special crime division. Despite reconsideration of six cases of attempted murder involving infants, the review reaffirmed the initial conclusion of no further legal action.
Letby, aged 36 and residing in Hereford, is currently serving 15 whole-life orders for the murder of seven infants and the attempted murder of seven others at the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital from June 2015 to June 2016. Her appeals against these convictions were rejected twice in 2024.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission is presently examining evidence presented on Letby’s behalf by an international panel of medical professionals, contending that substandard medical care and natural causes were responsible for the incidents under scrutiny. A public inquiry, overseen by Lady Justice Thirlwall, is anticipated to release its findings later this year, with the exact date of publication yet to be announced.