No pause in Lucy Letby public inquiry, judge rules

A public inquiry examining the events surrounding serial killer Lucy Letby's crimes will not be halted, the judge overseeing it has ruled.

Lady Justice Thirlwall's inquiry has been hearing evidence since September about how the former neonatal nurse was able to murder seven babies and try to kill seven others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

Letby and the hospital's former executives recently requested a pause to the inquiry, pending the outcome of the 35-year-old's latest challenge against her convictions.

But Lady Justice Thirlwall rejected their calls, and her inquiry's final report is expected to be published in November.

Kate Blackwell KC is representing the Countess of Chester Hospital's former chief executive Tony Chambers, former medical director Ian Harvey, former director of nursing Alison Kelly and former HR director Sue Hodkinson.

• Private notes and emails reveal inside story of hospital struggle to stop Lucy Letby

In her closing submission to the inquiry on Tuesday, Ms Blackwell said there was a "real possibility" that Letby's convictions may be overturned.

On that basis, she warned that continuing the inquiry would be unfair to her clients.

The former senior managers also made a similar request to Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

Letby's solicitors wrote to Lady Justice Thirlwall on Monday to suggest her final report would be "redundant and likely unreliable" unless proceedings were halted pending the outcome of any appeal.

But Richard Baker KC, representing families of Letby's victims, said the applications were made by Letby to "attempt to control the narrative" and for the executives "to avoid criticism".

He added that there was "nothing remarkable or new" about recent medical evidence presented on her behalf.

Last month, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists, working for Letby's defence team, told reporters that all of the deaths and injuries had been due to "natural causes or just bad medical care".

Those findings will be passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice.

Letby's legal team hopes her case will eventually be referred back to the Court of Appeal after two previous failed bids.

Announcing her decision to proceed with her inquiry as planned, Lady Justice Thirlwall said: "It is not the actions of Lucy Letby that I am scrutinising, it is the actions of all those who were in the hospital... and what they did at the time, in the light of what they knew at the time and in the light of what they should have known at the time.

"There are already large numbers of concessions about what was not done and what should have been done. Those significant concessions come from the organisations and the hospital including the doctors and the managers.

"Perhaps principle, and most obvious among the concessions made by just about everyone is the acknowledgement that there was a total failure of safeguarding at every level, and that will not change.

"It is a matter which has been debated at some length in the course of the inquiry and one that it seems to me will inevitably feature in any report."

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