Former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby. Photo / Supplied, File
British former nurse Lucy Letby will not be charged with the murders of further babies, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service has announced.
The former neonatal nurse, 35, who was convicted of killing seven babies and attempting to murder seven more at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016, is currently serving 15 full-life terms in prison.
Cheshire Constabulary were investigating further incidents at the Chester hospital going back to 2012, as well as alleged attacks at Liverpool Women’s Hospital where Letby worked as a trainee.
Officers had re-interviewed Letby at Bronzefield Prison last year and in July, the force said it had submitted a “full file of evidence” to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for charging advice as part of Operation Hummingbird.
However, the CPS announced that following a six-month review, no further charges will be brought against Letby. Police said the families concerned were being informed about the decision.
Cheshire Constabulary said it was “not the outcome” that the force had anticipated.
The force said in the statement that they were “confident that we held enough evidence to take to the CPS”.
Announcing the decision not to proceed with charges, Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS’s special crime and counter-terrorism division, said: “We received a file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary in July 2025 asking us to consider further allegations against Lucy Letby, 36, relating to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
“Following a thorough review of that evidence, we have decided that no criminal charges should be brought in respect of those further allegations.
“The Crown Prosecution Service considered offences of murder and attempted murder in respect of two infants who died, and attempted murder in respect of seven infants who survived.
“We concluded that the evidential test was not met in any of those cases. As always, this decision was made independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test.
“The CPS has written to the families involved and will offer meetings to explain our decision-making in further detail. Our thoughts remain with them.”
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is continuing to weigh up whether to send Letby’s original case back to the Court of Appeal following growing concerns about the verdicts.
Mark McDonald, her barrister, said: “Lucy Letby has always maintained her innocence – she has never hurt a child and never would. It is vital that the case is now referred back to the Court of Appeal as a matter of urgency.
“Thirty-one reports have been submitted to the CCRC, compiled by 26 internationally renowned experts, which provide overwhelming evidence that no babies were murdered.
“The reality is that a young innocent woman is in prison for crimes she has not committed.”
McDonald said he was astonished by the police statement, suggesting the force disagreed with the CPS decision.
“It’s never happened before,” he said. “The police have much to lose if she is found innocent, the spotlight is going to be on them.”
Since Letby’s conviction, scores of scientists, medics and politicians have come forward to question how the trial was conducted, while an international panel of experts, working for the new defence team, has reviewed the cases and concluded that there were no murders or assaults.
The Thirlwall Inquiry, which was examining how the NHS and outside bodies could have stopped the attacks, has also delayed the publication of its report twice.
The CCRC told the Daily Telegraph that they would have continued to review the original convictions even if the CPS had brought new charges against Letby.
Last year, in an unprecedented intervention into the conviction of a serial killer, 14 world-leading experts – including the former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health – reviewed the deaths and collapses at the Countess of Chester and found they all had medical explanations.
Dr Shoo Lee, the president of the Canadian Neonatal Foundation, said: “We did not find any murders. In all cases, death or injury were due to natural causes or just bad medical care.”
At the time, Lord Macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions, said the experts’ report had to be “taken seriously” and warned that, if correct, it represented a “comprehensive trashing” of the prosecution’s case.
Statisticians have also criticised a chart shown to the jury that appeared to show Letby at every death and collapse.
Cheshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service continue to stand by the original verdicts, arguing that two juries have convicted Letby and three court-of-appeal judges refused to grant leave to appeal after examining the evidence.
Last summer, Cheshire Constabulary also arrested three former managers from the Countess of Chester over allegations of gross negligence manslaughter and corporate manslaughter.
The three, who have not been named, are being investigated over claims that they did not do enough to stop Letby from attacking babies at the hospital. All have been bailed without charge.
Sir David Davis, the Tory MP for Goole and Pocklington and a critic of the original prosecution, posted on X:“The Crown Prosecution Service is right not to bring new charges against Lucy Letby.
“It correctly states that the evidential test was not met for any of the further allegations. This is, of course, the first and most fundamental reason for this decision.
“In my view the ‘evidence’ in the original cases failed to prove guilt and this is the reason that Letby’s lawyers have taken the matter back to the Criminal Case Review Commission.
“The CCRC must conclude its review quickly and refer the case to the Court of Appeal.
“It has long been my view that any retrial in Lucy Letby’s case should happen as quickly as possible.”
Chester Constabulary added: “There will be some who will feel that this is news worth celebrating. We do not share this view and would ask that people respect the privacy and feelings of the families involved.
“Today’s announcement does not affect or undermine the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple murders and attempted murders of premature babies following an extensive investigation and two criminal trials, including one of the longest-running murder trials in British criminal history and two unsuccessful appeals.”
They confirmed that the CPS decision will not impact the ongoing investigation into “corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter at the Countess of Chester Hospital”.
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