Key events
Lucy Letby inquiry report to be published after repeated delays
The findings of the long-awaited Thirlwall inquiry – set up to examine how the former nurse Lucy Letby was able to murder babies at a neonatal unit over a two-year period – is set to be published early this afternoon.
Letby, now ۳۶, was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more in ۲۰۱۵ and ۲۰۱۶, when she worked as a nurse in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester hospital.
She was sentenced to ۱۵ whole-life orders, and was twice denied permission to appeal against her convictions in ۲۰۲۴.
However, the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, is considering evidence presented on Letby’s behalf by an international panel of medics who claim poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the babies collapsing.
Letby has always protested her innocence and there have been some reports casting doubt on the safety of her convictions. A number of doctors, scientists and statisticians have publicly challenged the way the evidence was presented to jurors at her trial.
The public inquiry, chaired by one of the country’s most senior judges, Lady Justice Thirlwall, was formally established in October ۲۰۲۳ by the former health secretary Steve Barclay, two months after Letby’s multiple convictions.
Justice Thirlwall heard evidence at Liverpool Town Hall from numerous witnesses between September ۲۰۲۴ and February ۲۰۲۵, including from the parents of Letby’s victims.
The inquiry did not examine Letby’s convictions or possible motives, focusing instead on the conduct of those working at the Countess of Chester Hospital, including managers, nurses and midwives, with regard to Letby’s actions, whether Letby should have been suspended earlier, if police should have been informed sooner of suspicions about her, and whether her managers should have responded differently when concerns about her were first raised.
The inquiry has also considered how effective NHS management and governance structures were, and what information parents received regarding their babies’ care. It says its aim is to seek “answers for the victims’ families” and ensure that “lessons are learned”.
The report was first expected to have been published in November ۲۰۲۵ but was set back by a string of delays.
Inquests into the deaths of babies who Letby was convicted of murdering are to take place in May ۲۰۲۷.
