Tory MP Hunt calls for more speed in Letby case review

FORMER health secretary Sir Jeremy Hunt has called for an "urgent re-examination" of the case of Lucy Letby, just months after he apologised to the families of her victims at a public inquiry.

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The Conservative MP pleaded for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, to "speed up their normally painfully slow process".

The CCRC is considering evidence presented by Letby's legal team from an international panel of medics who claim poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the babies collapsing at the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit.

The former nurse, 35, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted across two trials at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.

Giving evidence in January at the Thirlwall Inquiry over Letby's crimes, Sir Jeremy - who was Health Secretary between 2012 and 2018 - acknowledged the "appalling crime" took place under his watch and he bore ultimately responsibility for the NHS "insofar as lessons were not learned from previous inquiries that could have been or the right systems were not in place".

He said: "I want to put on the record my apologies to the families for anything that did not happen that potentially could have prevented such an appalling crime."

Writing in the Daily Mail newspaper, Sir Jeremy said: "I am not arguing that Letby is innocent.

"That is not my place. I believe in the separation of powers.

"It must never be the role of any politician to second-guess the outcome of any court decision, let alone a jury trial.

"The pain endured by the families affected must also be at the forefront of our minds.