Will Lucy Letby get a retrial? Update after new Netflix documentary

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Netflix recently released ‘The Investigation of Lucy Letby,’ a documentary about the former nurse convicted of murdering seven babies. Since the verdict, questions about the case have emerged, and some are now wondering if a new trial might be necessary.

A recent true crime documentary highlights a troubling period at the Countess of Chester Hospital in the UK. Between June 2015 and 2016, the hospital’s neonatal unit saw an unexpected increase in the number of babies who died or suffered serious collapses.

After a number of baby deaths occurred while Lucy Letby was working, an investigation began. She was later convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others while she was a nurse at the hospital.

In August 2023, she received a life sentence with no possibility of parole. The Netflix documentary then shifts focus to people who think she was wrongly convicted and explores their arguments.

Will Lucy Letby get a retrial?

Currently, British courts haven’t scheduled a new trial. Before a retrial can begin, Letby’s current convictions would need to be cancelled or reversed through the appeals process, which is only possible in a few specific situations in England and Wales.

For a conviction to be overturned, either the Court of Appeal would have to determine the original trial was flawed after a successful appeal, or the Criminal Cases Review Commission would need to send the case back to the Court of Appeal, usually because new evidence emerged or a serious error in the original trial was discovered.

If a conviction isn’t overturned through an appeal or a review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, there’s no way to get a new trial in court. Things like public investigations, police work, or decisions made by prosecutors don’t automatically change a criminal conviction on their own.

If the Court of Appeal overturns Letby’s convictions, it will then consider whether she should be tried again. Until the court makes a decision, her current convictions will stand.

Despite the conviction, Lucy Letby’s lawyer, Mark McDonald – featured in the Netflix documentary The Investigation of Lucy Letby – thinks recently discovered evidence might be enough to revisit the case, and he’s actively seeking a review.

In an interview with Good Morning Britain last September, he stated that he’d submitted a substantial amount of new evidence – over a thousand pages and the opinions of 26 experts – to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). He believes this is more evidence than the CCRC has ever considered in a single case.

When questioned about why this information wasn’t brought up during the initial trial, McDonald explained he hadn’t been part of the original trial team. He then emphasized the evidence provided by international experts supporting the current appeal.

When Letby applied for a review of her case last year, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) clarified that it only examines whether the legal process was fair, not whether she committed the crimes. The CCRC also stressed the importance of remembering the families affected by these tragic events.

We understand there’s been a lot of discussion about the Lucy Letby case, and much of it is based on incomplete information.

We want to express our sympathy and keep in our thoughts those families impacted by the events that occurred at the Countess of Chester Hospital from June 2015 to June 2016.

We’ve received an initial application regarding the case of Ms. Letby, and our team has started reviewing it. We expect to receive more information soon. It’s important to remember that the CCRC doesn’t decide if someone is innocent or guilty – that’s the court’s job.

The CCRC’s job is to examine potential wrongful convictions. If new evidence or legal arguments suggest a conviction might be overturned or a sentence lessened, the CCRC investigates and, if justified, sends the case to higher courts for review.

We currently can’t say how long it will take to review this application. The trials involving Ms. Letby included a large amount of complex evidence.

As a gamer, I appreciate a fair playing field, and that’s what the CCRC provides. They’re totally independent – they don’t take orders from the government, the courts, the police, or even the people asking for their cases to be looked at. That way, they can investigate whether someone got a raw deal without any bias. It’s all about getting to the truth, and their independence is key to that.

Several well-known individuals are now supporting calls for a new trial. This includes Jeremy Hunt, who previously served as the UK’s health secretary from 2012 to 2018 and faced criticism for changes made to the National Health Service during his time in office.

Last week, when speaking with The Crime Agents, Hunt didn’t comment on the possibility of a new trial. He simply shared his thoughts and feelings about the case.

I suspect there’s some uncertainty, but it’s up to the CCRC to decide, he said. If they find enough doubt, the conviction could be considered unsafe.

Hunt also pointed out that he was the Health Secretary when these deaths occurred, and emphasized that, legally, the individual is at fault. This naturally leads to the question of whether earlier intervention could have prevented the tragedy.

“But yes, I do want the CCRC to look into this and I want them to do it really quickly.”

Dr. Dewi Evans, a retired children’s doctor and the main witness for the prosecution, disagreed with last year’s experts’ report. He also refuted claims that he had presented evidence unfairly or overlooked problems with the hospital’s medical care.

He was responding to Dr. Shoo Lee, a Canadian expert in newborn care and a key supporter of appealing Lucy Letby’s conviction. Dr. Lee had argued that the reasoning of Dr. Evans and the prosecution – that air bubbles in the bloodstream caused several deaths – had weaknesses.

Dr. Evans responded to questions about chosen evidence by stating he prefers not to debate the issue publicly through press conferences. He explained that scientific and legal processes don’t typically involve this type of public back-and-forth, and that research findings are usually presented in a more formal setting, as reported by The Telegraph.

He stated that he doesn’t agree with Lee’s claim that he was only looking at specific cases. In fact, he specifically requested a review of all deaths and collapses from 2015 and 2016 – not just those considered ‘suspicious,’ ‘unexpected,’ or those happening while Letby was working.

That’s why I asked the police not to tell me who they suspected. I didn’t learn about Letby until her first arrest in July 2018. The evidence clearly showed something was wrong, so I recognized there was misconduct.

Is Lucy Letby guilty?

Legally, Lucy Letby has been found guilty. A jury convicted her of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more after considering evidence in two trials, and those convictions have been confirmed by the courts. Unless an appeal changes things, she remains legally guilty.

The prosecution’s case relied on indirect evidence, expert opinions from doctors, and noticeable trends within the hospital’s newborn unit. A key part of their argument was that the babies experienced unexpected and sudden illnesses only while Letby was working.

Doctors testified in court that several babies had injuries suggesting they were intentionally hurt. These injuries included air being injected into their blood, being given too much insulin, and being forcibly fed.

In two instances where patients used insulin, lab tests showed the insulin wasn’t produced naturally and there was no clear medical reason for it being present.

Evidence also connected Letby to the incidents through statements from coworkers, her phone records, and notes found at her house. One note, featured in a true crime documentary, shockingly read, “I am evil… I killed them on purpose.”

During searches of Letby’s home, police found confidential medical records, such as notes from nursing shift changes and details of attempts to revive patients. A total of 257 of these sheets were discovered, and Letby claimed she had unintentionally brought them home in her pockets after work.

Jurors were instructed to evaluate each case on its own, but also to consider the overall series of incidents, which prosecutors called unusual. After hearing weeks of evidence, the jury decided that Letby deliberately harmed the babies she was responsible for.

Honestly, ever since the trial finished, I’ve been increasingly worried that we might have gotten things wrong. A lot of people are now saying the prosecution built their case too much on just seeing a pattern, and didn’t really consider other things that could have caused the issues – like the hospital being understaffed, problems with preventing infections, or just generally not providing the best care to newborns. It feels like those other possibilities weren’t looked into closely enough.

Many experts now doubt the idea that an air embolism caused the incident, pointing out it’s hard to confirm after the fact and that the symptoms presented in court aren’t always clear indicators of intentional injection.

Some people question whether the insulin findings definitively prove Letby intended to harm patients, suggesting mistakes or contamination could be responsible. Additionally, Letby’s lawyers chose to challenge the prosecution’s experts through cross-examination rather than presenting their own expert testimony.

At the conclusion of the new documentary, a statement appears saying that Ben Myers KC, the defense lawyer, wouldn’t explain why Lucy Letty’s legal team didn’t present any expert witnesses during the trial.

It’s important to understand that this doesn’t mean Letby is innocent or has been exonerated. Instead, more and more experts are starting to question whether her convictions were safe. However, it’s still unclear if this will lead to a new trial.

Where is Lucy Letby now?

So, I was reading up on the Lucy Letby case, and apparently she’s currently locked up at HMP Bronzefield, which is a pretty high-security women’s prison down in Surrey, England. A former prison governor told the Mirror that she’s basically got a target painted on her back, which sounds…intense, honestly. Makes you wonder what things are like in there.

According to Frake, Letby will be treated like any other prisoner. She won’t receive any special privileges and will have to earn them, just like everyone else serving a life sentence. Frake emphasized that Letby is no different from other inmates in that regard.

She added that mothers and those who care for others will find Letby’s actions particularly appalling.

They definitely know she’s being held in their jail—they might not know her exact location, but they’ve likely seen her in the news and know what she looks like. It will be the responsibility of the jail staff to keep her safe from that attention.

In the documentary The Investigation of Lucy Letby, Maisie – a friend and fellow nurse who has been given a pseudonym – shares her perspective on the case and offers insight into Letby’s life in prison.

In a letter to Maisie, Letby mentioned she has a private room and bathroom and is able to shower daily and take walks outside.

She said she deeply misses her cats, Tigger and Smudge, and finds it very upsetting to be apart from them. She worries they might think she’s a bad owner, but is comforted knowing her parents are looking after them and giving them plenty of attention.

You can now watch ‘The Investigation of Lucy Letby’ on Netflix. If you enjoy true crime, you might also be interested in learning what happened to the Turpin family and Elizabeth Smart’s kidnappers, or checking out our list of 10 top true crime podcasts.

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2026-02-09 19:54