Lucy Letby: Baby killer seeks to appeal murder conviction

Lucy Letby yesterday launched an appeal against her convictions for murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others.

The 33-year-old serial killer — who was last month sentenced to a whole life order — is expected to start her bid to clear her name at a court hearing later this month.

But any full consideration of her appeal is unlikely to take place for several months.

Letby, originally from Hereford, was convicted of attacking helpless babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit in 2015 and 2016. The nurse denied all the offences and refused to attend her sentencing at Manchester Crown Court. She was cleared of two counts of attempted murder.

However, the jury was unable to reach verdicts on six counts of attempted murder in relation to five children. The Crown Prosecution Service will announce whether it is seeking a retrial on those counts at a hearing scheduled to take place in Manchester on September 25.

Letby is now expected to seek permission to appeal on the same date. “I can confirm that an application for leave to appeal against conviction has been received in the case of Lucy Letby,” a spokesman for the criminal appeal office said. They added that it could not give any information about the grounds for appeal.

However, court staff confirmed the application related to all of the nurse’s convictions. Letby’s solicitor, Richard Thomas, told the Mail he was unable to comment on the application.

Anyone convicted of a crime has 28 days to ask for permission to appeal — the 28-day period from the last verdicts in Letby’s trial would have elapsed yesterday.

A judge will now look at Letby’s application and decide whether to give permission for it to go to appeal. Should permission be granted, the appeal would be heard by three senior judges.

If her application for permission to appeal is rejected, Letby can still renew her application before a panel of judges.

In order to have an appeal heard, it is necessary to show there are grounds for arguing that the conviction is unsafe. Should the judges agree following a full hearing, they can quash the conviction and order a retrial. Summing up the evidence in her trial, Judge Mr Justice Goss told the jury it was a case in which the prosecution “substantially, but not wholly” relied on circumstantial evidence.

The appeal bid comes after it was announced last week that one of the country’s most senior judges, Lady Justice Thirlwall, would lead the inquiry into Letby’s crimes.