The ruling that might have blown Letby's freedom bid

A nurse found guilty of killing patients just lost his appeal. David James Smith, formerly of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, looks at the far-reaching impact it could have

- David James Smith

There was bad news recently for a nurse convicted of killing multiple patients when the Court of Appeal rejected his claim of wrongful conviction. Colin Campbell (formerly Colin Norris) had been found guilty in 2008 of murdering four elderly women patients, and attempting to murder a fifth, all by insulin poisoning during his time at Leeds General Infirmary. Campbell was 32 years old at conviction and will turn 50 next year. He is 17 years into a life sentence with a minimum term of 30 years.

Campbell’s failed appeal - the 49-page judgment was published just two weeks ago - has implications for the prospects of Lucy Letby, who has multiple hurdles ahead of her as she seeks to prove she has been the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice. Not least are her convictions: Letby is serving 15 concurrent whole life sentences - seven for the murders of babies in her care, and eight more for the babies she was found to have attempted to murder, all at the Countess of Chester Hospital, a decade ago, during 2015 and 2016.

Letby was aged 33 at conviction on 14 counts in mid-2023. The 15th conviction came after a retrial a year later.

As things stand, she will never be freed, but events in the case since have moved at a pace that has sometimes seemed dizzying. Following two failed attempts at appeal, Letby has become a celebrated cause, promoted at press conferences and in interviews by her post-trial counsel, Mark McDonald.

Concerns about her case have been raised by a variety of public figures, from Lord Sumption, a former Supreme Court judge, to past and present politicians such as MP David Davis, Reform leader Nigel Farage, the former MP Nadine Dorries and the former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, who recently said the case required “urgent reexamination”.

Commentators and social media posters have struggled to keep up, not always grasping the significance of developments.