UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Health Secretary Wes Streeting condemned efforts to free Lucy Letby as inappropriate, reiterating that her conviction stands until the courts determine otherwise.
Ms Streeting stated that “waging a campaign” for Lucy Letby is “not the right thing to do,” urging the focus to remain on the legal process.
Who is Lucy Letby and what led to her conviction?
Lucy Letby, aged 35, from Hereford, has been handed 15 whole-life sentences after being convicted in two trials at Manchester Crown Court. She was found guilty of murdering 7 babies and attempting to kill another 7, including two attempts on one victim, during the period from June 2015 to June 2016.
Last year, Lucy Letby failed twice in her attempts to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal. In May, she tried to dispute her convictions for seven murders and seven attempted killings and in October, she sought to reverse the conviction for attempting to kill a baby girl, which a separate jury had confirmed at a retrial.
What did Wes Streeting say about Lucy Letby’s conviction and campaign for innocence?
When asked if the health secretary had changed his stance on the speculation regarding Lucy Letby’s innocence, which he had called “crass and insensitive,” following an expert panel’s conclusion that there was no medical proof to challenge her conviction, he stated, “It is still the case that Lucy Letby is convicted of the crimes she was accused of. I know there is a campaign being waged, including by her legal team, to protest her innocence and including some of my parliamentary colleagues.”
Mr Streeting said, “What I would say to those campaigners and to anyone else who’s involved in the court of public opinion, as it were, is that there is a judicial process to follow.”
He urged those who believed the conviction was unjust to keep in mind the parents who lost their babies, insisting that the matter should be addressed through legal routes instead of political ones.
Mr Streeting remarked that pursuing the campaign in light of these convictions is wrong. He affirmed that he would maintain his stance on the fairness of the sentence until the courts decided differently, highlighting how justice is determined through the court’s decisions.
What were the findings of the international panel on Lucy Letby’s case?
As reported by The Guardian, an international panel of experts revealed earlier this month that they found no evidence to support the accusations against Lucy Letby for murdering or harming infants. Senior Tory MP David Davis referred to the case as “one of the major injustices of modern times” during the panel’s press conference.
The panel, involving Prof Neena Modi, former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, concluded that the babies Letby was alleged to have harmed faced a series of “poor medical care” or suffered from natural causes at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England.
What did Lucy Letby’s barrister urge Health Secretary Wes Streeting to do?
Ms Letby’s lawyer, Mark McDonald has called on the Health Secretary to suspend the Thirlwall inquiry, arguing that it operates on the ‘false assumption’ of the nurse’s guilt.
Last week, he submitted a request to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to reopen the case of Lucy Letby over a potential miscarriage of justice in England.
He stated, “The evidence is clear, many failures of care led to the death of babies on the unit,” adding, “It is time for Wes Streeting to call a halt to the Thirlwall Inquiry and re-look at its remit.”
What did Lucy Letby’s former boss say about her?
Karen Rees, who served as head of nursing at Countess of Chester Hospital, publicly expressed her support for Lucy Letby, stating, “If she were acting, she deserves an Oscar.”
She stated that Letby is not guilty of killing newborn babies.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Ms Rees defended Lucy Letby, stating, “People say she’s not emotional. Trust me, she is emotional. I know they say psychopaths are clever.”
What did Wes Streeting say about NHS progress and private investment?
Mr Streeting stated that while the NHS had fulfilled its promise of 2 million additional appointments, there was still “a hell of a lot more to do,” and he denied claims of influence from previous Conservative policies on this number.
He expressed his willingness to consider “genuine proposals” for introducing private funding in the NHS, including employing private hospitals to help lower waiting times.