NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Lucy Letby case: UK nurse didn’t murder a single baby, experts claim

By Sarah Knapton and Tom McArdle
Daily Telegraph UK·
4 Feb, 2025 07:57 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Record number of travellers bound to Waitangi, Treaty Principles Bill described as the tip of the iceburg and expectations that unemployment will rise. Video / NZ Herald
  • Experts, including a University of Canterbury professor, claim Lucy Letby did not murder any babies, citing poor care as the cause of deaths.
  • Dr Shoo Lee criticised the misuse of his work, stating deaths were due to natural causes or bad care.
  • The Criminal Cases Review Commission received an application to review Letby’s case as a potential miscarriage of justice.

Lucy Letby did not murder a single baby, experts have claimed.

Presenting “significant new medical evidence” in the case of the convicted killer, a panel of experts in the care of newborn babies alleged that they had died as a result of the poor care they had received.

On Tuesday, local time, analysis conducted by a committee of 14 neonatologists was revealed at a press conference in central London.

Lucy Letby is serving 15 whole-life orders for the murder of seven infants and attempted murder of seven others.
Lucy Letby is serving 15 whole-life orders for the murder of seven infants and attempted murder of seven others.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders for the murder of seven infants and attempted murder of seven others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

But Dr Shoo Lee, a Canadian neonatologist whose work was cited by the prosecution in the original trial, was critical of the care received by the babies and told the hearing that his work had been misinterpreted and misused by the Crown Prosecution Service.

He said the experts had found no evidence of murders, adding: “In all cases, death or injury were due to natural causes or just bad medical care.

“In our opinion, the medical opinion, the medical evidence doesn’t support murder in any of these babies – just natural causes and bad medical care.”

Experts claim Lucy Letby did not murder any babies, citing poor care as the cause of deaths. Photo / Getty Images
Experts claim Lucy Letby did not murder any babies, citing poor care as the cause of deaths. Photo / Getty Images

During the hearing, Lee talked through a number of the babies and listed failings in the care provided to them or natural causes. In one case, he said doctors had failed to spot a dangerous bacterial infection in one baby, who later died, saying it was a “preventable death”.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

According to the panel of experts, another baby died after getting a blood clot when doctors left lines into the body without an infusion.

In the case of Baby K, in which Letby was convicted of attempted murder of the infant by dislodging her tube, Lee said it was never actually inserted correctly by a doctor.

The convictions were based on blood test readings that showed high insulin levels but low c-peptide levels in the blood - a clear sign that artificial insulin has been administered.

However Professor Geoff Chase, a world expert in insulin, from the University of Canterbury said the prosecution and police were basing their readings on ratios from adults and children.

In fact, he says the ratio of c-peptide to insulin was completely normal for a pre-term infant.

A long list of general findings, which were highly critical of the Countess of Chester Hospital – including work overload, inadequate staffing and poor medical treatment – were presented.

Opening the event, Tory former minister and panel chair Sir David Davis, who has campaigned for a retrial for Letby, described her convictions as “one of the major injustices of modern times”.

It comes as the Criminal Cases Review Commission announced that it had received an application on behalf of Letby for her case to be reviewed as a potential miscarriage of justice.

Speaking after the press conference, Mark McDonald, the barrister leading her legal team, said they would be back in the Court of Appeal “very soon” owing to the “unsafe” conviction.

“There is overwhelming evidence that the conviction is unsafe,” he said. “And if Dr Shoo Lee and the panel are correct, no crime was committed. And if no crime was committed, that means a 34-year-old woman is currently sitting in prison for the rest of her life for a crime that just never happened.”

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

live
World

Trump announces Israel-Iran have agreed to 'total ceasefire', UN condemns attack on US base

23 Jun 11:54 PM
World

Supreme Court allows Trump admin to deport migrants to third countries

23 Jun 11:22 PM
World

Iran-Israel conflict: What to know about disruption to air travel

23 Jun 10:58 PM

Kaibosh gets a clean-energy boost in the fight against food waste

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Trump announces Israel-Iran have agreed to 'total ceasefire', UN condemns attack on US base
live

Trump announces Israel-Iran have agreed to 'total ceasefire', UN condemns attack on US base

23 Jun 11:54 PM

It comes after the US recently struck nuclear sites in Iran.

Supreme Court allows Trump admin to deport migrants to third countries

Supreme Court allows Trump admin to deport migrants to third countries

23 Jun 11:22 PM
Iran-Israel conflict: What to know about disruption to air travel

Iran-Israel conflict: What to know about disruption to air travel

23 Jun 10:58 PM
Breakthrough cancer test predicts whether chemotherapy will work

Breakthrough cancer test predicts whether chemotherapy will work

23 Jun 10:30 PM
Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style
sponsored

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP