Letby concerns 'very much a police matter' - inquiry

Consultants raised fears about Lucy Letby almost a year before Cheshire Police were made aware

A detective knew it was "very much a matter for his officers" when he learned that one nurse was on shift for a series of baby collapses at the Countess of Chester Hospital, a public inquiry has heard.

The chair of an independent panel examining child deaths said she had only been told of concerns about Lucy Letby at a meeting with medical director Ian Harvey in April 2017, also attended by Det Supt Nigel Wenham of Cheshire Police.

Hayley Frame from the Child Death Overview Panel said she and the detective agreed that "there was something very worrying" and it was a police matter.

The Thirlwall Inquiry is examining the circumstances surrounding serial killer Letby's crimes.

Letby, who is serving 15 whole life jail terms, was moved off the neonatal unit after consultants raised concerns about her in June 2016.

At the meeting, ten months later, Ms Frame told the inquiry that at first Mr Harvey's tone was "very much reassuring" as he said a number of independent reviews into unexplained deaths had "not brought out anything untoward".

However, she said: “And then it shifted when it was stated they had looked at staff rotas and there was one member of staff who was on shift during each collapse.

"Then of course you are thinking, ‘what are we being told here? This is gravely concerning’."

Hayley Frame said anyone at the hospital could have reported the concerns about Letby to police

Nicholas de la Poer KC, counsel to the inquiry, asked what was agreed between Ms Frame and Det Supt Wenham at the end of the meeting.

She said: "Nigel spoke about how this was very much a matter for his officers and that they needed to secure case files.

"I think he had another meeting some time after that and that was the start of the investigation.

"But I was clear coming out of that meeting that there was something very worrying and Nigel had the same view and the fact that this was the first time that we knew this."

Police invited in

The following week Cheshire Police were formally asked by the hospital to investigate the matter.

Ms Frame said the CDOP, police and the local authority should have been informed about consultants' fears at the time they were raised.

"Those concerns could have been reported to the police and local authority by anyone working within the hospital," she said.

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, sitting at Liverpool Town Hall, is expected to continue until early 2025, with findings published by late autumn of that year.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.