by Evidence presented in the Lucy Letby case shows which staff came in and out of the wrong children’s unit, the Crown Prosecution Service has admitted.
Letby was convicted last August of the murders of seven children and the attempted murders of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
A retrial earlier this year found her guilty of the attempted murder of another child, known as Baby K.
During the retrial, Nick Johnson KC, prosecuting, told the court that door swiping data, which shows nurses and doctors entering and leaving the intensive care ward, had been “falsely tampered with”.
The Crown Prosecution Service told The Telegraph that the discrepancy found related to one door in the neonatal intensive care unit, and had been corrected for the retest.
Now Tory MP Sir David Davis has written to Mersey-Cheshire SPC chief crown prosecutor Sarah Hammond, asking her to “urgently clarify” what timing errors were made during the first trial and how they with the arguments of the prosecution. .
In several cases in the first trial, the door swiping data was used to show that Letby was the only nurse present on the unit when children had catastrophic falls. But the CPS refused to confirm that all the other door swiping details were correct during that first trial.
Letby’s trial has come under scrutiny in recent months, with some scientists and doctors questioning the statistical and medical evidence presented to the jury.
There are concerns that insufficient weight has been given to understaffing levels, poor practices and confined conditions in the children’s unit, as well as the children’s severe prematurity.
The Royal Statistical Society is to hold a meeting following the verdicts, saying it was aware of “concerns” from its members and the general public about the use of statistical evidence in the case.
Since the trial, it has also emerged that the ward was struggling to contain infectious outbreaks that could put the children at risk.
Sir David, who is analyzing the evidence used to convict the newborn nurse and is planning to launch a parliamentary debate after the summer break, said: “Clearly the sliding door details are vital to knowing which nurse where there was a place at one time, and this was crucial to the prosecution’s case in the first trial.
“It is therefore vital that the CPS make clear whether those errors occurred during any evidence at the first trial.”
Letby received a full life sentence, meaning she will die in prison. After her conviction, Judge Goss said she had led a “cruel, calculated and cynical campaign of child murder”, and police said she had abused the trust placed in her in the most unimaginable way.
The families of the victims have said they are distressed that anyone would question the verdict or show sympathy for Letby.
In the initial trial, the prosecution said Dr Ravi Jayaram, a consultant, found Letby standing over Baby K at 3.50am on February 17, 2016. The baby was convulsing and his breathing tube was loose.
The prosecution said door swipe data showed the child’s designated nurse left the intensive care unit at 3.47am. But the details were redacted in the retrial to show that the nurse was back at that time, meaning Letby was not alone.
During the retrial, both the prosecution and the defense accepted that it was a serious mistake, and Letby was convicted of Baby K’s attempted murder.
But it is unclear whether the error could have had a significant impact on how evidence was presented to the jury in the original trial.
During the first trial, swipe data was used to show Letby moving around the neonatal unit, and opening the prosecution Mr Johnson described the nurse as “the common denominator” and a “constant honest presence” when when children became ill or died.
In the case of Child O’s murder by air injection, door swiping data was used to show that Letby entered the unit at 2.39pm on 23 June 2016.
The prosecution said that “within minutes of Lucy Letby’s return to the neonatal unit, as shown by the swipe door entry system, [the baby] suffered his first fall”. It was also used to show that another nurse did not come back until after the disaster.
In the case of Child A, a prosecution medical expert told the court that the child’s fall was consistent with a deliberate injection of air a minute or two before the collapse, when only Letby was present.
Letby was also said to be the only nurse present for the attempted murder of Child N at 1.05am on 3 June 2016, after a nurse took a break and left the unit at 1am.
In the case of Baby D’s murder, she was accused of being alone with the infant, although she told police she could not recall that being the case.
Mr Johnson told the court: “Like all these cases – it’s the coincidence of the problems that happened when Lucy Letby was around and the coincidence of the same problems that happened to different children at different times that is so exciting and leads to knew it was malignant. hands at work.”
A spokesman for Mersey-Cheshire Crown Prosecution Service said: “The SPC can confirm that accurate door swiping details were presented at the trial.”
