Key expert in Lucy Letby trial gave 25 further suspicious incidents to police

An expert witness in the trial of serial killer nurse Lucy Letby reported 25 further suspicious incidents to police, it has been revealed.

Dr Dewi Evans described finding more cases of concern after going back over all 82 medical files he had been provided, following her murder convictions.

The paediatrician, 75, told the Telegraph he had now stopped working on the Operation Hummingbird probe into Letby and did not know why no follow-up action was taken because he no longer had a licence to practise – having retired in 2009.

Letby, 34, was convicted of seven counts of murder and seven of attempted murder relating to 13 victims – having tried to kill one of the babies twice – at Manchester Crown Court in August last year.

She was sentenced to 14 whole life tariffs for each guilty count, meaning she will die in jail and has no prospect of parole.

Lucy Letby, 34, was convicted of seven counts of murder and seven of attempted murder at Manchester Crown Court in August last year

Trial judge Mr Justice Goss said she had been responsible for a ‘cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder’ between June 2015 and June 2016.

A jury at a retrial in July convicted Letby of the attempted murder of another child, known as Baby K.

A public inquiry is ongoing, examining how she was able to kill the babies while on duty at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire.

It is also looking at how the NHS handled the case and its response to doctors who raised concerns.

Medics at the Countess say that they repeatedly flagged concerns about a spike in deaths on the neo-natal unit to hospital bosses but their concerns were dismissed and not acted upon.

The inquiry has been told executives will dispute exactly when they were told specifically that Letby was being linked to any foul play.

Dr Evans was the clinician who originally evaluated babies’ medical files from the hospital after concerns were raised by consultants about deaths under Letby’s care.

He has now told the Telegraph: ‘Following the verdict, I wrote to Cheshire Police last September and said, “Look, I’ve only done preliminary reports on these, but I think they need to be looked at in more detail”.

‘And I just listed 25 cases of mine, and it might be that nothing comes of any of them – for instance, I found one baby where there was a displaced breathing tube.

‘Well, you can’t prove anything without one displaced breathing tube, but if that breathing tube was displaced and there was no obvious reason for it, then you might become a bit worried.

Trial judge Mr Justice Goss said Lucy Letby (pictured) had been responsible for a ‘cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder’ between June 2015 and June 2016

Body-worn cameras captured the moment Letby was arrested at her home in July 2018

A court artist’s picture of Letby giving evidence at Manchester Crown Court in June this year

‘And then there are other babies who suddenly became seriously ill with an infection. Okay, premature babies are always at risk of infection. So, there were other concerning cases.’

He also said 10 deaths were not put before the criminal trial jury due to lacking the ‘key consistencies’ that suggested foul play. 

Some doubts have been raised in recent months about Letby’s guilt – with some members of the Royal Statistical Society expressing concerns over the use of statistics to secure a conviction on the basis of probabilities.

But Dr Evans today said: ‘There were issues with all of those seven (babies) that were suspicious. Why has this baby collapsed? That’s suspicious. Babies don’t do that suddenly.

‘Why have these babies not responded to resuscitation? That in itself is suspicious.

‘What is most surprising was the comments from neonatologists who should know better, because they were commenting on cases where they’ve not seen the clinical records, they’ve not been in court.’

The criminal trial was told that after Letby was removed from frontline nursing, in July 2016, she launched a grievance against the hospital.

It was upheld and managers ordered consultants to write a letter of apology to Letby, who was advised preparations would be made for her to return to the unit.

It was only because consultants continued to object and insisted police were called in that this never happened.

Following Letby’s sentencing in August last year, the Countess of Chester Hospital’s medical director Dr Nigel Scawn said: ‘I speak for the whole trust when I say how deeply saddened and appalled we are at Lucy Letby’s crimes.

A public inquiry is ongoing, examining how Letby (pictured) was able to kill the babies while on duty at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire

Medics at the Countess of Chester Hospital (pictured) say that they repeatedly flagged concerns about a spike in deaths on the neo-natal unit to hospital bosses

Police officers stand guard outside Liverpool Town Hall on September 10 – the building is hosting the ongoing Thirlwall Inquiry into the Lucy Letby case

‘We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital and our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or died. We cannot begin to understand what they have been through.

‘This case has had a profound impact on our patients and our local community and also our staff, who come to work every day determined to provide safe and high quality care for all of our patients.

‘Our staff are devastated by what has happened and we are committed to ensuring that lessons continue to be learned.

‘We are grateful for the co-operation of our staff, especially those that have maintained the utmost professionalism while giving evidence in this trial.’