Convictions of UK baby killer Lucy Letby being reviewed

The convictions of child serial killer Lucy Letby are to be reviewed, as her legal team continues its campaign protesting her innocence.

Her case will go to the UK's Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, after an application from Letby's lawyers.

Letby, 35, 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 babies were attacked by various means while the defendant worked as a nurse on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

One such method was injecting air into the bloodstream which caused an air embolism that blocked the blood supply and led to sudden and unexpected collapses.

At a press conference on Tuesday, MP Sir David Davis described Letby's convictions as "one of the major injustices of modern times".

Retired medic Dr Shoo Lee, who co-authored a 1989 academic paper on air embolism in babies, then presented the findings of a panel of 14 experts who said they had compiled an "impartial evidence-based report".

He told the press conference that the panel's thoughts were with the families of the babies who died.

"We understand their stress and their anguish, and our work is not meant to cause more distress," he said.

"Rather, it is meant to give them comfort and assurance in knowing the truth about what really happened.

Letby lost two bids last year to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal - in May for seven murders and seven attempted murders, and in October for the attempted murder of a baby girl which she was convicted of by a different jury at a retrial.

In December, Letby's barrister Mark McDonald said - that separately from the CCRC application - he would also seek permission from the Court of Appeal to apply to reopen her case on the grounds that Dr Dewi Evans, the lead prosecution medical expert at her trial, was "not reliable".

Retired consultant paediatrician Dr Evans said concerns regarding his evidence were "unsubstantiated, unfounded, inaccurate".

A CCRC spokesperson said: "We are aware that there has been a great deal of speculation and commentary surrounding Lucy Letby's case, much of it from parties with only a partial view of the evidence.

"We ask that everyone remembers the families affected by events at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

"We have received a preliminary application in relation to Ms Letby's case, and work has begun to assess the application. We anticipate further submissions being made to us.

"It is not for the CCRC to determine innocence or guilt in a case, that's a matter for the courts.

"It is for the CCRC to find, investigate and if appropriate, refer potential miscarriages of justice to the appellate courts when new evidence or new argument means there is a real possibility that a conviction will not be upheld, or a sentence reduced.

"The CCRC is independent. We do not work for the government, courts, police, the prosecution or for anyone applying for a review of their case. This helps us investigate alleged miscarriages of justice impartially."

A public inquiry into how the nurse committed her crimes is also under way, and detectives from Cheshire Constabulary are continuing their review of the care of some 4,000 babies admitted to hospital while Letby worked as a neonatal nurse.