Hearings begin as Lucy Letby inquiry seeks answers

Lucy Letby was handed 15 whole-life prison sentences for murdering seven babies and trying to kill seven others

Live hearings at a public inquiry into how serial-killer nurse Lucy Letby was able to murder and injure babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital are set to begin.

While the inquiry formally opened in October 2023, a retrial, Letby's unsuccessful appeal and ongoing police investigations delayed the hearings.

High Court judge Lady Justice Thirlwall, who is chairing the inquiry, has said she "will do all I can" to make sure "no-one else suffers" like the parents of Letby's victims.

The former nurse, now 34, will spend the rest of her life in prison after being convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of another seven on the hospital's neonatal unit.

'Utterly unacceptable'

The Thirlwall Inquiry has the legal power to compel witnesses to give evidence at the hearings in Liverpool Town Hall.

Counsel to the inquiry Rachel Langdale KC is due to deliver an opening statement later.

Lady Thirlwall said it was "utterly unacceptable" Letby had been able to strike after similar previous inquiries including into the crimes of Beverley Allitt, a fellow nurse who murdered four infants in 1991, and killer GP Harold Shipman.

She said she would hear evidence on how the recommendations from those inquiries were implemented and why they did not prevent Letby's killing spree.

"It is unconscionable that this situation would ever occur again," she said.

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In recent months there had been speculation about the safety of Letby's convictions after several experts publicly questioned how certain medical and statistical evidence was presented to the jury in her first trial, which ended in August 2023.

Letby has also appointed a new legal team which has said it was planning to refer her case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission seeking a fresh appeal.

However the Thirlwall Inquiry will not examine the safety of Letby's convictions.

Lady Justice Thirlwall said she "will do all I can" to prevent any other families from suffering like Letby's victims

The Thirlwall Inquiry will look at three general areas according to its terms of reference:

• The experiences of parents of the babies named in the criminal charges faced by Letby

• The conduct of hospital staff and how Letby was able to repeatedly harm babies on the neonatal unit

• The wider NHS including the culture within hospitals, and how it affects the safety of newborns in neonatal units

The terms of reference also identified a list of 30 key questions the inquiry will seek to answer.

They range from the specific, such as "When was [Letby] in fact reported to the police and by whom?" to more general such as: "What happened to those who raised concerns about Letby?"

The list also included questions about wider NHS culture, including the conduct of board members, managers and medical staff.

The inquiry is expected to last until at least the end of the year.

Some families had called for the inquiry to be live-streamed to prevent "grossly offensive" conspiracies, but at a preliminary hearing in May, Lady Thirlwall ruled against it, due to the risks of breaching reporting restrictions in place to anonymise Letby's victims.