Letby lawyer seeks fresh appeal over reliability of expert witness
The Guardian|December 17, 2024
Lucy Letby's lawyer has said he is seeking to reopen her appeal because the prosecution's lead medical expert witness, Dr Dewi Evans, has "changed his mind" on some key evidence.
David Conn
Letby lawyer seeks fresh appeal over reliability of expert witness

At a press conference yesterday, Mark McDonald said Evans was "not a reliable expert" and that all the convictions were not safe.

"Today the defence is announcing that it will immediately seek permission from the court of appeal to take the exceptional, but necessary, decision to apply to reopen the appeal of Lucy Letby and immediately review all her convictions," McDonald said.

He also gave details of new medical expert reports produced for the former nurse's defence by two consultant neonatologists, which wholly dispute the prosecution evidence for two of the babies Letby was convicted of killing.

The experts' report into one of the babies, Baby O, alleges that a doctor caused the baby to die by, apparently mistakenly, pressing a needle into the liver while trying to relieve excess air in the stomach.

Richard Taylor, a consultant neonatologist based in Victoria, British Columbia, who is one of approximately 100 medical and other experts now assisting Letby with her defence, said that the doctor at the hospital, whom McDonald did not name, must have been aware he had done so.

This story is from the December 17, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

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This story is from the December 17, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

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