Key facts
- Families of six babies allegedly harmed by Lucy Letby failed to get her prosecuted further.
- The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) previously decided not to bring new charges as the evidential test was not met.
- Cheshire Constabulary had investigated allegations following a review of infant deaths and collapses.
- The review was conducted under the Victims' Right to Review scheme.
- An independent prosecutor upheld the original decision not to bring further criminal charges.
Families of six more babies allegedly harmed by serial killer nurse Lucy Letby have failed in their bid to overturn a decision not to prosecute her further. In January, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) ruled no new criminal charges would be brought against Letby over potential offences of attempted murder and murder involving nine children, including two who died, as the “evidential test was not met”.
Cheshire Constabulary had passed a file of evidence to the CPS asking to consider the allegations following a review of deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies during Letby’s time at the Countess of Chester Hospital, and also Liverpool Women’s Hospital where she trained, from 2012 to 2016. Six families requested a review of the CPS’s decisions involving their child as part of the Victims’ Right to Review scheme.
An “extensive” review by an independent prosecutor followed, which upheld the ruling not to bring further charges, said the CPS. Malcolm McHaffie, head of the CPS’s special crime division, stated that the review involved a re-examination of substantial evidence and material. Six offences of attempted murder were reconsidered in relation to six babies, but the review upheld the original decision not to bring any further criminal charges. The CPS has written to the families involved and will offer meetings to answer any further questions.
Letby, 36, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole life terms for the murders of seven babies and attempting to kill seven more at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016. She was twice denied permission to appeal against her convictions in 2024. The Criminal Cases Review Commission is considering evidence presented on her behalf by medics who claim poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the babies collapsing. A public inquiry into how the neonatal nurse was able to commit her crimes is due to publish its findings later this year.