'No scientific justification' to Letby insulin poisoning claim, experts say

The claim that Lucy Letby definitely poisoned babies with insulin has "no scientific justification whatsoever", and there is a "very strong level of reasonable doubt" about the convictions, according to the authors of a 100-page study on the case.

- Josh Halliday

Prof Geoff Chase, one of the world's foremost experts on the effect of insulin on pre-term babies, told the Guardian it was "very unlikely" anyone had administered potentially lethal doses to the two infants.

Jurors at Letby's trial were told by the prosecution there could be "no doubt that these were poisonings" and that "these were no accidents", based on the babies' blood sugar results.

However, a detailed analysis of the infants' medical records by leading international experts in neonatology and bioengineering has concluded that the data presented to the jury was "inconsistent" with poisoning.

The former nurse, now 35, is serving 15 whole-life prison terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven others - including trying to murder two by insulin overdoses - at the Countess of Chester hospital.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, began a review of the case this week after an international panel of 14 experts found no evidence of murder or deliberate harm.

Sir David Davis, the senior Conservative MP supporting Letby's appeal, described it as "one of the major injustices of modern times".

The jury at Letby's trial was told by the prosecutor, Nick Johnson KC, that the nurse "undoubtedly" poisoned the two baby boys, Baby 6 and Baby 12, eight months apart by spiking their feeding bags with insulin.