Panel Finds No Evidence of Murder by Lucy Letby

A panel of 14 experts has raised more serious doubts on the convictions of Lucy Letby, dubbed Britain's "killer nurse." The 35-year-old former neonatal nurse was found guilty of killing seven newborns and attempting to kill seven more at England's Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016. But the international panel of neonatal and pediatric specialists who reviewed all 17 cases brought up during her trial found "no medical evidence to support malfeasance causing injury in any of the 17 cases," according to panel chair Dr. Shoo Lee, a Canadian neonatologist, per the New York Times. "In all cases, death or injury were due to natural causes or just bad medical care," he added, per the BBC.

During the trial, the prosecution's lead expert witness cited Lee's 1989 research finding air embolisms in the bloodstreams of babies resulted in skin discoloration to back up claims that Letby deliberately killed infants, some of whom were found discolored, by injecting air into their veins. But Lee—whose testimony was refused by a court during Letby's appeal—said his research found skin discoloration only resulted when air was injected into arteries, not veins, per the BBC. The panel determined none of the babies should've been diagnosed with air embolism. One had died of thrombosis from an existing issue, another had died of respiratory complications caused by chronic lung disease, Lee said. "In summary, then, ladies and gentlemen, we did not find any murders."

In another case, the experts found no evidence to support the claim Letby deliberately dislodged an infant's breathing tube. A consultant doctor's initial attempt to resuscitate the baby was "traumatic" because "the consultant didn't know what he was doing," Lee said. Fellow panel member, Dr. Neena Modi of Imperial College London, said the deaths and injuries resulted in part from "delayed diagnosis and inappropriate or absent treatment." The report is likely to be added to Letby's submissions to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates alleged miscarriages of justice in the UK. Letby's lawyer, Mark McDonald, said the medical evidence presented to the jury "has been demolished," per the BBC. "She has hope," he added of Letby, per the Times. (More Lucy Letby stories.)