Lucy Letby to appeal against baby murder convictions

Lucy Letby refused to appear in court for her sentencing last month

Nurse Lucy Letby is to appeal against all her convictions for murdering seven babies and attempting to kill another six.

Her legal team has lodged an application for permission to appeal according to the Court of Appeal Criminal Division.

Among her crimes, Letby injected babies with air and poisoned two with insulin at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The 33-year-old was sentenced to a whole-life term in August.

Summing up at the end of 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.

News of her planned appeal comes after it was revealed a further court hearing will take place on 25 September where the Crown Prosecution Service will decide whether to pursue a retrial for six outstanding counts of attempted murder.

Lucy Letby pictured during her first interview in police custody in 2018

The jury was unable to reach verdicts on those counts at the end of Letby's trial.

Letby, who became the UK's most prolific child serial killer in modern British history, refused to appear in the dock for her sentencing hearing on 21 August.

The judge proceeded without her and said he was addressing her as if she were in the dock.

• Letby court absence 'final act of wickedness from coward'

• What the babies' parents told Letby at her sentencing

• The text messages Letby sent as she killed babies

She was given repeated whole-life terms - one for each offence - becoming only the fourth woman in UK history to receive such a sentence.

Whole-life orders are the most severe punishment available and are reserved for those who commit the most heinous crimes.

Judge Goss said the "cruelty and calculation" of Letby's actions between June 2015 and June 2016 were "truly horrific".

"You acted in a way that was completely contrary to the normal human instincts of nurturing and caring for babies and in gross breach of the trust that all citizens place in those who work in the medical and caring professions," he said.

"There was a malevolence bordering on sadism in your actions.

"During the course of this trial you have coldly denied any responsibility for your wrongdoing.

"You have no remorse. There are no mitigating factors."

The jury was shown a note, found at her home, which read: "I am evil I did this"

He said Letby, originally from Hereford, would be provided with copies of his remarks and the personal statements of the parents.

The mother of one baby boy killed by Letby said she was "horrified that someone so evil exists".

A candlelit vigil to remember the victims was held at Chester Cathedral on Sunday evening.

The Department of Health has said an independent inquiry will be held into Letby's case, and will examine "the circumstances surrounding the deaths and incidents, including how concerns raised by clinicians were dealt with".

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