The Crown Prosecution Service has announced it won’t charge convicted baby killer Lucy Letby with any further offences after reviewing files of evidence that Cheshire Constabulary submitted in July 2025.
These files possibly linked her to eight potential additional offences of attempted murder and one offence of murder at the Countess of Chester Hospital where Letby worked. Another two allegations of attempted murder and murder were linked to one child at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
The Cheshire Police admitted “this is not the outcome we had anticipated” in a statement last night, saying they had been confident in the evidence they’d provided in relation to the deaths of other babies.
“We believed the evidence submitted met the CPS charging standard. The CPS did not agree and despite our representations we must respect the decision that has been made. There will be some who will feel that this is news worth celebrating,” their statement noted.
“We do not share this view and would ask that people respect the privacy and feelings of the families involved.”
The Mail Online reports that one mother whose son’s care was investigated by detectives said she was “absolutely devastated” that they would not be getting justice.
“We suspect Letby did something to him but the police said the evidence doesn’t meet the threshold for prosecution,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking, we are absolutely devastated he won’t get justice.”
MAINTAINING INNOCENCE
In light of this surprising development, there are concerns Letby’s 15 life sentences could be overturned.
Mark McDonald, Letby’s barrister, responded to the shock news reiterating his client’s innocence.
“Lucy Letby has always maintained her innocence – she has never hurt a child and never would. It is vital that the case is now referred back to the Court of Appeal as a matter of urgency,” he said.
In a case that shocked the world, the former neonatal nurse was found to have killed five boys and two girls in her care while working at the Countess of Chester hospital in 2015 and 2016.
When she was found guilty in August 2023, Letby became the third woman alive in the UK to be handed a whole-life order, meaning she can never be paroled.
SERIAL KILLER
Branded as one of the UK’s worst serial killers, a summary report written by a panel of neonatal experts last year gave the first indications that she might be freed.
But last year a 14-strong panel, led by retired Canadian neonatologist Dr Shoo Lee says evidence used to convict the 35-year-old for killing seven babies and attempting to kill another seven at Countess of Chester Hospital in north-west England in 2015 and 2016, was misused by the prosecution in the initial trial in August 2023.
“In a summary then, ladies and gentleman, we did not find murders,” Dr Lee told a press conference on February 6, 2025.
“In all cases, death or injury was due to natural causes or just bad medical care.”
In the 31-page report, experts concluded the deaths and injuries were caused by the overworked and understaffed neonatal unit failing to complete basic medical procedures, delaying treatments and misdiagnosing conditions.
During the initial trial, the prosecution’s leading expert Dr Dewi Evans alleged Letby injected air into four newborn babies’ bloodstreams, causing fatal embolisms.
Dr Lee says the prosecution’s description of these embolisms and associated skin discolouration are inconsistent with their clinical diagnosis.
NOT FORENSIC QUALITY
“The notion that these babies can be diagnosed with air embolism because they collapsed and had these skin discolourations has no evidence in fact,” he shared.
Instead he suggested a one-day-old boy Letby was accused of injecting with air died from thrombosis after staff failed to start an infusion after intubation, while another 10-week-old girl died from complications linked to a respiratory distress syndrome and chronic lung disease.
The prosecution also alleged Letby poisoned two newborns with insulin in the original trial.
For these deaths, the panel agreed with a report by Professor Geoff Chase from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, that tests the prosecution used were not of forensic quality and the two children had “typical” insulin levels.
LIFE-LONG EFFECT
While Letby remains in HMP Prison Bronzefield after two failed appeals in 2024, her defence lawyer Mark McDonald said last night, “The reality is that a young innocent woman is in prison for crimes she has not committed.”
But a solicitor from the firm who represents families of babies Letby was convicted of harming or killing, said her crimes have had a lifelong impact.
“Those families we represent continue to be affected by Letby’s crimes which she was tried over and convicted of in a court of law.
“The impact of her actions can never be underestimated and will have a life-long effect on our clients.
“There may well be other families upset at today’s decision.
“It’s important that families with serious concerns about what happened to their babies are now supported so they can receive the answers they deserve.”
