A public inquiry into the murder of seven babies by Lucy Letby has criticised the “noise” from people casting doubt about her guilt, causing “enormous additional distress” to her victims’ families.
Letby, 34, was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire.
She was labelled one of Britain’s most prolific serial child killers and is serving 15 whole-life orders after being convicted at Manchester Crown Court.
In May, she lost her Court of Appeal bid to challenge her convictions from the first trial.
Opening the inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall, chair Lady Justice Thirlwall said the appeal judgment was a “watershed” as parents could now turn their minds to the inquiry.
She added there had been “a huge outpouring of comment” questioning Letby’s guilt from people who do not appear to have been at the trial.
“Parts of the evidence has been selected and there has been criticism of the defence at the trial. All of this noise has caused enormous additional distress to the parents who have already suffered far too much,” she said.
She said parents had waited years for their questions to be answered and it was her responsibility to focus on the inquiry’s terms of reference, adding: “It’s time to get on with this inquiry.”
The inquiry will cover three broad areas:
• The experiences of parents whose babies were targeted by Letby
• The conduct of those working at the Countess of Chester
• How Letby was able repeatedly to kill and harm babies
The first week of the inquiry will hear opening statements from the counsel to the inquiry, along with legal representatives from “core participants” including the families of Letby’s victims.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Read more from Sky News:
Dozens charged over riot following fatal e-bike crash
Warning issued as inmates are released early
Oasis fans should get refunds after paying inflated prices
In Lady Justice Thirlwall’s opening statement in November, the senior Court of Appeal judge said she would also examine what recommendations had been made from previous inquiries.
Another killer nurse ‘utterly unacceptable’
She referred to the case of another child killer nurse, Beverley Allitt, who murdered four infants and caused grievous bodily harm or attempted to murder a total of nine other children in Lincolnshire in 1991.
She said: “Everyone was determined that it would not happen again. It has happened again. This is utterly unacceptable.”
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Speculation ‘upsetting’ for parents
In July after a retrial, Letby was handed another whole life order for the attempted murder of an extremely premature baby, but protested “I’m innocent” as she was led from the dock.
In recent months, a number of doctors, scientists and statisticians have publicly challenged how the evidence was presented to jurors in Letby’s first trial.
But that speculation has been described as “upsetting” by solicitor Tamlin Bolton, who is representing the families of six victims.
