LONDON (AP) — Lawyers for convicted baby killer Lucy Letby and former executives at the hospital where she worked have asked to halt an inquiry into the deaths after a panel of medical experts found no evidence of a crime, a judge said Monday.
Justice Kathryn Thirlwall announced the requests before hearing closing statements in the inquiry seeking accountability for staff and management for the harm to babies at Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England.
The inquiry that began in September was predicated on Letby's guilt, and Thirlwall had said she would not review the convictions after an appeals court upheld them. But lawyers for Letby said that if the convictions are overturned, the inquiry might reach the wrong conclusions, and 10 million pounds ($13 million) spent so far will have been a waste of taxpayer funds.
“In short, it will defeat the purpose of a public inquiry, to fully and fearlessly understand the circumstances in which the babies died or became unwell," attorney Louise Mortimer wrote in a letter to Thirlwall.
Thirlwall is expected to publish a final report in the fall.
Letby, 35, is serving multiple life sentences with no chance of release after being convicted of seven counts of murder and attempting to murder seven other infants between June 2015 and June 2016 while working as a neonatal nurse at the hospital.
Prosecutors said Letby left little or no trace when she harmed babies: injecting air into their bloodstreams, administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes, interfering with breathing tubes or poisoning them with insulin. They said she was the only employee on duty in the neonatal unit when the children collapsed or died.
But a group of 16 international medical experts in pediatrics and neonatology who reviewed the medical evidence concluded that natural causes or bad medical care led to the death or collapse of each newborn, Dr. Shoo Lee, a retired neonatologist from Canada, said last month.
The panel also questioned the premise that there was an unexplained spike in deaths at the hospital. It said evidence of schedules that showed Letby was present during all the deaths was “incomplete, selective and, therefore, meaningless."
Dozens of Letby's supporters gathered outside the inquiry in Liverpool to call for her release. They held signs saying: “Free Lucy Letby! No babies were murdered!” and others referring to flawed science and the “nurse Letby witch hunt.”
Letby’s convictions are being examined by the Criminal Case Review Commission, which looks at potential miscarriages of justice. It could refer its findings to the Court of Appeal.
The Crown Prosecution Service has said two juries convicted Letby and three appellate judges had rejected her arguments that the prosecution expert evidence was flawed.
Former executives at the hospital — chief executive Tony Chambers, medical director Ian Harvey, director of nursing Alison Kelly and human resources director Sue Hodkinson — asked for the public inquiry to be halted after the medical panel released its findings.
But a lawyer for the National Health Service trust that runs the hospital said during his closing remarks that the inquiry shouldn't be suspended.
“A postponement, which would necessarily be of indeterminate length, is not warranted and it would serve to delay the implementations of recommendations which unhappily the evidence in this inquiry have demonstrated are desperately needed,” attorney Andrew Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the hospital had acknowledged some failings at the start of the inquiry but that it was now clear it should have acted even sooner to banish Letby from the neonatal unit.
“We recognize the significance of this concession to the parents of children who were harmed or killed by Letby after the beginning of November 2015 and I can only say that the trust is profoundly sorry for the failure to intervene sooner," Kennedy said.
Several related investigations remain active.
Cheshire police announced last week that its investigation into corporate manslaughter at the hospital had been expanded and was now looking at individual suspects for gross negligence manslaughter.
Letby's lawyer criticized that decision, based on the medical panel's findings.
“We now have substantial and significant expert evidence which completely demolishes the prosecution case against Lucy Letby and points the finger in a very different direction to that which the police are currently looking,” Mark McDonald said. "It is time they take a step back and ask themselves whether have they made a huge mistake.”
A separate investigation is looking into other deaths and near-deaths of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital when Letby worked there between 2012 to 2016.
FILE- This undated handout issued by Cheshire Constabulary shows of nurse Lucy Letby. (Cheshire Constabulary via AP, file)
AACHEN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 18, 2025--
Protembis, a privately-held emerging cardiovascular medical device company, announced today the establishment of a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to provide objective advice and contribute to the strategic plans of the company. Specifically, the SAB will provide overarching scientific and clinical strategic guidance, advise on emerging trends and opportunities, and provide expert counsel on scientific and clinical matters.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250317149296/en/
The SAB will be comprised of four internationally recognized interventional cardiologists, who have made significant contributions to the understanding of the role for cerebral embolic protection (CEP) in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR): Dr Martin Leon MD, Dr Anita Asgar MD, Dr Samir Kapadia MD, and Dr Nicolas van Mieghem MD.
The SAB is chaired by Dr Martin Leon, Professor of Medicine at New York’s Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Chief Innovation Officer and the Director of the Cardiovascular Data Science Center for the Division of Cardiology. Dr. Leon has played a pivotal role in shaping the field of interventional cardiovascular medicine through his involvement in over 50 clinical trials. He has co-authored over 1550 publications and has directed or co-directed over 100 international educational programs focused on interventional cardiology. Dr. Leon's significant contributions to the medical community have been recognized with 10 international career achievement awards, and he has been awarded an honorary degree from the University of Athens.
“I have been impressed by the Protembis management and their innovative US pivotal clinical trial design that utilizes MRI endpoints. I am looking forward to collaborating with the other members of the SAB to advise on the technology’s future evolution as the field of TAVR expands into lower risk, asymptomatic, and younger patients,” said SAB Chair Dr Martin Leon.
Having recently moved from the Montreal Institute of Cardiology where she was medical director of the structural heart program, Dr Anita Asgar is an associate professor and the medical director for structural and interventional cardiology at Northwestern Medicine in Evanston/Chicago, USA. She has published and co-authored almost 200 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. Her research interests include the treatment and management of valvular heart disease and cost-effectiveness analyses.
Dr Samir Kapadia is chairman of cardiology in the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine in Cleveland. He is the author of more than 80 book chapters in medical textbooks on his specialty interests, and he has authored more than 800 articles in peer reviewed medical journals on his clinical experience. He is editor in chief for the Textbook of Interventional Cardiology. Dr Kapadia has been instrumental in the design and execution of the seminal CEP trials as the Co-Principal Investigator of the Sentinel IDE trial (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA, USA) and Principal Investigator of the PROTECTED TAVR Trial. Dr Kapadia is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, European Society of Cardiology, Society of Vascular Medicine, and a member of the American Heart Association and Society of Thoracic Surgery.
Dr Nicolas Van Mieghem is a professor of medicine and the director of interventional cardiology at the Thoraxcenter Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam. He has published and co-authored over 500 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. He was the Principal Investigator of the MISTRAL-C European Trial of the Sentinel™ device and has been author or co-author on almost 30 publications specifically in the field of CEP. He is a principal investigator and steering committee member in multiple ongoing international trials evaluating various coronary and transcatheter valve technologies. Dr Van Mieghem is a fellow of the European Society of Cardiology and the American College of Cardiology.
“We are pleased to announce the creation of this SAB with such a roster of global recognized thought leaders,” said Protembis Co-Chief Executive Officers Karl von Mangoldt and Conrad Rasmus. “To be able to cooperate closely with the members and to benefit from their extensive clinical and strategic knowledge is a privilege. Their guidance will be critical as we map our strategic path forward.”
Protembis is currently enrolling patients in the PROTEMBO Pivotal IDE Trial (NCT05873816), which aims to show that the ProtEmbo ® System is superior to contemporary practice in reducing new cerebral lesion volume when assessed by Diffusion-Weighted MRI. The novel trial randomizes ProtEmbo against a hybrid control group: half receiving no CEP and half receiving the Sentinel™ device. The trial is led by Dr Roxana Mehran (Mount Sinai, NY, USA) as the Chair of the Study Executive Committee, with Dr Susheel Kodali (New York Presbyterian Hospital, NY, USA), Dr Raj Makkar (Cedars Sinai, Los Angeles, CA, USA) and Dr Stephan Haussig (Herzzentrum, Dresden, Germany), as the Global Co-Principal Investigators.
About Protembis
Protembis is a privately-held emerging medical device company that has developed the ProtEmbo ® Cerebral Protection System. The company strives to provide a simple and reliable solution to protect patients from brain injury during left-sided heart procedures, improving patient quality of life and reducing overall healthcare costs associated with brain injury. The ProtEmbo ® System is currently undergoing clinical investigations.
Protembis Announces Formation of New Scientific Advisory Board Comprised of World-Renowned Structural Heart Experts
