CPS admits mistakes in Lucy Letby trial over ‘door swipe’ evidence

The evidence was corrected in the retrial of Lucy Letby after initially being ‘mislabelled’

Evidence presented during the Lucy Letby trial showing which staff came in and out of the baby unit was incorrect, the Crown Prosecution Service has admitted.

Letby is serving 15 whole-life sentences for seven murders and seven attempted murders of babies in her care at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.

A whole-life order means Letby will spend the rest of her life in prison with no minimum term or chance of early release. Letby was first serving 14 whole-life sentences for the seven murders and seven attempted murders, given to her last year.

A retrial was ordered on a single attempted murder charge concerning a baby girl, known as Child K, after the first jury could not reach a verdict.

Lucy Letby continues to maintain her innocence (PA)

A second jury took just three and a half hours to convict Letby of the offence.

The retrial heard that Letby targeted the baby after the infant was moved from the delivery room to the neo-natal unit shortly after her premature birth.

Nick Johnson KC, prosecuting, told the court that door swipe data, showing which nurses and doctors were entering and exiting the intensive care ward, had been “mislabelled”.

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that there was a discrepancy discovered relating to one door in the neonatal intensive care unit and that had been corrected for the retrail.

Lucy Letby is serving 15 whole life sentences for the murders of babies under her care (Cheshire Constabulary)

A spokesperson said: “Two juries and three appeal court judges have reviewed a multitude of different evidence against Lucy Letby, and she has been convicted on 15 separate counts following two separate jury trials.

“We confirm that accurate door-swipe data was presented in the retrial.

“We have been transparent in clarifying this issue and rectified it for the retrial. We are confident that this issue did not have a meaningful impact on the prosecution, which included multiple strands of evidence.”

In the initial trial, the prosecution said Dr Ravi Jayaram, a consultant, had discovered Letby standing over Baby K at 3.50am on 17 February 2016. The baby was deteriorating and its breathing tube had been dislodged.

The prosecution said door-swipe data showed that the baby’s designated nurse had left the intensive care unit at 3.47am. However, the data was amended in the retrial to show the nurse had returned at that time, meaning Letby was not alone.

It comes after former cabinet minister Sir David Davis told The Independent he was set to spearhead a probe questioning the conviction of Letby after a series of experts cast doubt over her guilt.

Sir David said he hopes to visit Letby in prison as part of an investigation into whether the serial baby killer may be the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Several medical professionals have raised questions over Letby’s conviction. In one podcast, the statistician Peter Elston and retired paediatrician Michael McConville claimed there had been inadequacies in the medical evidence presented during her trial.

Letby continues to maintain her innocence despite her conviction and told jurors during her trial she was “not the sort of person who would kill babies”.

The Independent has contacted the CPS for comment.