Judge denies advice on Letby had 'masonic context'

A barrister was asked to look into baby deaths in 2017 after concerns about Letby

A judge has denied he was asked to give legal advice to hospital bosses over concerns about nurse Lucy Letby because he is a Freemason, a public inquiry has heard.

The Thirlwall Inquiry into the events surrounding Letby's crimes heard both Judge Simon Medland KC and the Countess of Chester's former director of corporate and legal services, Stephen Cross, are members of the organisation.

In April 2017, Mr Cross instructed Judge Medland on behalf of the hospital to find out if there was enough evidence to contact the police after medics raised fears the neonatal nurse could be murdering babies.

Judge Medland said there was "no masonic context to my instruction".

Dr Brearey had suggested to the inquiry that some former bosses were Freemasons

He added that he and Mr Cross "are not members of the same masonic lodge, we are not close friends".

Earlier this week the inquiry heard of "rumours and hearsay" about a Freemason connection of a "number of high-ranking people in the hospital and elsewhere".

Neonatal consultant Dr Stephen Brearey said he understood Mr Cross had risen "quite quickly" from a junior position, and queried whether proper processes had been followed.

Dr Brearey said people at the hospital had the impression there might be "deals going on behind the scenes".

Richard Baker KC, representing families of Letby's victims, said his clients had concerns about the matter.

Judge Medland , who was a barrister in 2017, told the inquiry he denied suggestions Mr Cross instructed him because both were members of the organisation.

"I can assure you and anybody else who is concerned with this inquiry that I have been entirely candid about that.

"To my mind it's of no more impact or relevance than for example if we had both had an interest in crown green bowling or church bell ringing.

"He instructed me, I assume, because he thought that I would be able to do a good job.

"I am not aware of anyone else on the hospital board at all who is a member of the Freemasons, either a man or a woman."

Enough evidence

Mr Cross, a former Cheshire Constabulary officer, has yet to give evidence but in a statement confirmed his Freemason connections in Cheshire.

Letby was redeployed to the hospital's risk and patient safety office in July 2016, after medics raised their concerns.

But hospital bosses opted to commission a series of reviews into the increased number of deaths on the unit in 2015 and 2016, rather than go straight to the police.

Judge Medland told the inquiry he understood the hospital's executive team wanted to know in April 2017 if there was enough evidence to contact the police.

He went on to recommend that "as things stand" he did not see sufficient information that might give rise to reasonable grounds for suspecting a criminal offence had been committed.

He recommended Det Ch Supt Nigel Wenham, a Cheshire Police representative on the local child death overview panel, be informed about the matter.

Mr Wenham, now retired, met consultants and executives later in April and advised the hospital to formally request police involvement, which happened the following month.

Giving evidence on Wednesday, Mr Wenham said he did not think he had ever met Mr Cross.

Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.

The inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall is expected to sit until early 2025, with findings published by autumn next year.