UK - Lucy Letby - Post-Conviction Statutory Inquiry

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10:09am
Lady Thirlwall turns her attention to the "huge outpouring of comment" on the validity of Letby's convictions.
"All of this noise has caused enormous additional distress to the parents who have already suffered far too much.
"I make it absolutely clear that it's not for me as chair of this public inquiry to set about reviewing the convictions. The Court of Appeal has done that, with a very clear result.
"The convictions stand.
"The parents of the babies named on the indictment have waited for years for the answers to their questions. It's time to get on with this inquiry."

Live: Thirlwall inquiry into Lucy Letby baby deaths case begins
 
10:11am
Ms Rachel Langdale KC is now giving her opening statement, and makes reference to the case of Beverley Allitt, her convictions, and the subsequent inquiry - and Clothier Report in 1994.
She says that, "distressingly", 25 years later, another nurse - Letby - killed and harmed babies in her care.

10:15am
She says a University of Chester lecturer said the Beverley Allitt case was part of Letby's student training course when she studied nursing there, qualifying in 2011.
She adds that Letby's victims, the babies and their families, are protected from public identification by crown court orders, and will be referred to by initials throughout the inquiry.
She says the inquiry will hear "heartbreaking and thoughtful evidence" about the experiences of the parents, and how their lives "have been impacted forever".
One aspect of the evidence involves "what they were and were not told about the likely cause of deaths or injuries", and if there was "a cover-up".
"Was it more important to protect the reputation of the hospital than to take steps to protect babies to to get to the bottom of who might have harmed them?"


10:16am
She recaps the trials and appeals of Letby's case. She adds "a careful reading of the appeal court's detail judgment" is recommended.
She adds it is important to take into account all of the evidence and to consider each piece of evidence in the context of all the other evidence.

Live: Thirlwall inquiry into Lucy Letby baby deaths case begins
 
10:19am
The first part of the inquiry - Part A - will consider the experiences of parents, and in Part B, the conduct of those working at the hospital will be examined at all levels.
"It is important that we stress at this early stage the inquiry's unwavering focus will not be examining the convictions, but rather, what the response of those at the time was and what should have been to what they knew or should have known at the time."
Oral evidence will be heard from doctors, nurses and managers.

10:21am
The inquiry's evidence will be given "with the benefit of hindsight" and expected to be truthful.
"The purpose of the inquiry is to reduce the risk of this happening again. None of those giving evidence can change the past, but they can have an impact on the future."

10:24am
"History tells us that serial killers are deceptive, manipulative and skilled at hiding in plain sight".
Ms Langdale KC refers to the case of Harold Shipman, who "enjoyed a high reputation as an attentive, caring doctor". "He was also able to kill undetected over many years".
"The actions of Letby will remain unfathomable. We will not be inviting speculation from witnesses about her motive or mindset. We will be examining why detailed, rigorous, medical analysis of sudden, unexpected deaths and collapses did not take place earlier, and why attacks on babies were able to continue at the hospital for a year."
"We will be questioning whether and how bias in favour of Letby, conscious or otherwise, influenced the hospital's response."

Live: Thirlwall inquiry into Lucy Letby baby deaths case begins
 
Tortoise said:
Personally I think the pathologist's evidence will be interesting, assuming he will be part of the inquiry. Did he consider the possibility of inflicted harm?
Click to expand...
I don't think so, unless checking for it is routine I think it would be easy to miss with something like air embolism. Just guessing from the necessary tests to prove ae it leaves little evidence.
 
Tortoise said:
10:19am
The first part of the inquiry - Part A - will consider the experiences of parents, and in Part B, the conduct of those working at the hospital will be examined at all levels.
"It is important that we stress at this early stage the inquiry's unwavering focus will not be examining the convictions, but rather, what the response of those at the time was and what should have been to what they knew or should have known at the time."
Oral evidence will be heard from doctors, nurses and managers.

10:21am
The inquiry's evidence will be given "with the benefit of hindsight" and expected to be truthful.
"The purpose of the inquiry is to reduce the risk of this happening again. None of those giving evidence can change the past, but they can have an impact on the future."

10:24am
"History tells us that serial killers are deceptive, manipulative and skilled at hiding in plain sight".
Ms Langdale KC refers to the case of Harold Shipman, who "enjoyed a high reputation as an attentive, caring doctor". "He was also able to kill undetected over many years".
"The actions of Letby will remain unfathomable. We will not be inviting speculation from witnesses about her motive or mindset. We will be examining why detailed, rigorous, medical analysis of sudden, unexpected deaths and collapses did not take place earlier, and why attacks on babies were able to continue at the hospital for a year."
"We will be questioning whether and how bias in favour of Letby, conscious or otherwise, influenced the hospital's response."

Live: Thirlwall inquiry into Lucy Letby baby deaths case begins
Click to expand...
Bumping this.
 
10:36am
A recap of events for Child A and Child B is now being relayed to the inquiry.
The signs of the "unusual rashes" were not relayed to parents at the time.
Dr David Harkness said no-one considered the death of Child A was caused by anything malicious.

An index of our extensive coverage from the first trial is here: Countess nurse Lucy Letby: What happened in her trial

10:41am
Ms Langdale says the inquiry will be "considering the steps that were, or should have been, taken following the deaths of the babies named on the indictment and how these assisted or failed to assist in the identification of concerns or the raising of an alarm about an increased number of deaths at the hospital, where established process is followed - and if not, why not."

10:47am
Ms Langdale says if a debrief did take place following the death of child A, "it appears no notes were taken and it had no impact on those who attended".
Neonatal mortality review meetings are generally held quarterly at the hospital. One was held on June 24, 2015, in which Child A's death was discussed.
The inquiry hears that, of the seven babies murdered, only in the case of Child C did a doctor, Dr John Gibbs, attend a 'sudden unexplained death in childhood' meeting.
Ms Langdale tells Lady Thirlwall: "You will no doubt want to consider whether and if so how a prompt and comprehensive note or a debrief, or record of a debrief, reflecting the clinical concerns held about Child A's sudden death and Child B's deterioration might have impacted upon analysis of the two deaths which followed."

Live: Thirlwall inquiry into Lucy Letby baby deaths case begins
 
10:55am
Ms Langdale KC moves to the case of Child C, who collapsed and died in June 2015.
Dr Gibbs had expressed surprise at the death of child C, and spoke about it "openly" with the parents.
Following the death of Child C, "some staff were beginning to ask questions", according to one doctor's statement to police.
"It was something on the grapevine when working other locations - People would say things like 'Have you heard about Chester?'"

Live: Thirlwall inquiry into Lucy Letby baby deaths case begins
 
Sweeper2000 said:
I don't think so, unless checking for it is routine I think it would be easy to miss with something like air embolism. Just guessing from the necessary tests to prove ae it leaves little evidence.
Click to expand...
I believe the x-rays showed a column of air in front of the spine though, and somewhere else, which is apparently very rare. I don't suppose it would ever cross your mind though that a nurse deliberately injected it.
 
The Guardian are covering it as well. It's refreshing and good to see the emphasis being put on the victims. That's a very very real and important part of this process seemingly forgotten in the media allot recently.

Lucy Letby: hospital did not act on senior paediatricians’ warning about Letby, inquiry hears – as it happened | Lucy Letby | The Guardian

Thirlwall inquiry hears senior paediatricians said Letby should not have continued access to patients but the hospital did not act
amp.theguardian.com amp.theguardian.com

An “outpouring of comment” on the validity of Lucy Letby’s convictions for murder and attempted murder has created a “noise that has caused an enormous amount of stress for the parents” of her victims, Lady Justice Thirlwall has said on the opening day of a public inquiry into events surrounding the tragic deaths.

Thirlwall told the inquiry that doubts cast on Letby’s convictions have come “entirely from people who were NOT AT THE TRIAL” as she opened the inquiry at the Countess of Chester hospital’s neonatal unit where Letby was a nurse between 2015 and 2016.

Thirlwall said it was not for her to review the convictions, adding the court of appeal had done that with a clear result. "THE CONVICTIONS STAND,” she said.
 
Last edited:
11:06am
A post-mortem examination for Child D gave the cause as pneumonia with acute lung injury. Dr Sandie Bohin, a currently practising neonatologist, had said in the trial that Child D's pneumonia had stabilised and she was recovering, at the time of her collapse.
It was the third death in two weeks. In 2013, there had been two deaths, and in 2014 there had been three deaths, the inquiry is told.

Live: Thirlwall inquiry into Lucy Letby baby deaths case begins
 
11:34am
The inquiry is resuming after a 15-minute break. It will continue for 1hr 15m more, than will adjourn for lunch.
Ms Langdale KC says the July 2 meeting "also failed to consider or document which staff were present at each resuscitation, or whether, in addition to the deaths, there had been any unexpected collapses over the same period [ie for Child B]."
It was not until after August/October 2015 when the factor of commonality in staffing was considered, after the cases of Child E and Child I.
Concerns by staff, it appeared "were not considered" on July 2, 2015.

11:36am
The deaths of Child A, Child C and Child D were discussed at neonatal mortality meetings. Prior to 2015, meetings were only held once or twice a year, due to the low mortality rate at the hospital.
In 2015, there were six - with two held in under two months.

Live: Thirlwall inquiry into Lucy Letby baby deaths case begins
 
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