Child killer Lucy Letby was a "broken person" but now has "new hope", according to her barrister Mark McDonald. Letby's parents contacted the 59-year-old lawyer almost a year ago, requesting he take over from her previous legal team and work to free her from prison.
The 35-year-old former nurse is serving 15 whole-life orders after murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016. McDonald told the Sunday Times that when he met her a week after being contacted, she had "lost every argument" through multiple trials and failed appeals.
New evidence campaign
McDonald is submitting what he describes as unprecedented amounts of "new evidence" to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice. He has spent the past year working to boost public criticism of her convictions and gathered a panel of 14 neonatal and paediatric experts.
The barrister shared the babies' medical notes with the expert panel and held a press conference casting doubt on the prosecution's case. However, lawyers representing the families of Letby's victims previously dismissed the panel's findings as "full of analytical holes" and "a rehash" of the defence case heard at trial.
Police developments
Three people who occupied senior positions at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016 have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. Cheshire Constabulary confirmed the suspects were later bailed pending further inquiries, with corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter probes continuing.
In July, Cheshire Police passed evidence of further allegations related to baby deaths and collapses at hospitals where Letby worked. The Crown Prosecution Service is now considering possible additional charges against the former nurse.
Lawyer's dedication
McDonald estimated he has spent thousands of hours on Letby's case and spoke to the Sunday Times while on holiday in Devon with his two children, aged three and four. He maintains regular contact with Letby, speaking to her at least once every two weeks and visiting monthly at Bronzefield prison in Ashford, Surrey.
"I won't stop. I will not stop until she is out," McDonald said. He argued it is crucial to "win the public narrative" before pursuing the legal narrative, because "the Court of Appeal will know that the country is going to be looking at them".
The barrister claimed the case lacks solid evidence, stating: "There's no forensic evidence. There's no CCTV. There's no eyewitness evidence. There's just a theory by a man called Dewi Evans," referring to the lead prosecution medical expert. He told the newspaper that if the CCRC does not refer the case back to the Court of Appeal, "one has to question the purpose of the CCRC".
Sources used: "Sunday Times" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
