Former minister David Davis to launch Lucy Letby conviction probe after experts cast doubt

David Davis will question the conviction of child-killer nurse Lucy Letby using parliamentary privilege from September

Former cabinet minister Sir David Davis is set to spearhead a probe questioning the conviction of child-killer nurse Lucy Letby.

The former Brexit Secretary will table a series of questions under Parliamentary privilege from September to examine the evidence used to convict the 34-year-old.

It comes after a series of experts have cast doubt over Letby’s conviction - who is serving 15 whole-life sentences for seven murders and seven attempted murders of babies in her care between 2015 and 2016.

Sir David told The Independent: “I am intending to have a debate in September. It will give us time to go through the evidence - of which there is a vast quantity.

“With a lot of people claiming a mistrial including statisticians, nurses and senior medics, as well as reports of people being warned off giving evidence, it is clear we need to look at it quite closely.”

Former nurse Lucy Letby is serving 15 whole-life sentences for eight murders and seven attempted murders of babies under her care between 2015 and 2016 (PA Media)

In one podcast, statistician Peter Elston and retired paediatrician Michael McConville tore into the case with detailed arguments about the inadequacies of the medical evidence and concerns about the administration of the hospital.

The pair challenged Letby’s neonatal unit - where she worked in her mid-20s - which was said to have inadequate levels of staff and training.

Mr Elston also raised doubts about the key statistical element of the case: the graph that showed Letby’s presence at all the events at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Some members of the Royal Statistical Society have also expressed concerns over the use of statistics to secure a conviction on the basis of probabilities.

Its recommendations on using such data in the cases of medical serial killers were not followed during Letby’s trial - which was the longest in British legal history.

A series of experts have cast doubt over Letby’s conviction, which will now be the subject of a parliamentary probe (PA)

On Sunday, it was claimed an NHS hospital told a nurse who wanted to support Letby she should not give evidence in her case.

The nurse, who trained with Letby at the Cheshire hospital, said she was asked to be a character witness by the defence but her NHS trust advised her against getting involved, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The nurse who trained with Letby also said she believed she was innocent, and had been made a scapegoat for bad practice on the neonatal ward.

A spokesman for the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “Due to the ongoing police investigations and the pending public inquiry, it would not be appropriate for the trust to comment further.”

Letby has denied ever having murdered newborn babies despite her conviction and told jurors during her trial she was “not the sort of person who would kill babies”.