Lucy Letby loses bid to appeal against conviction

Convicted killer Lucy Letby's bid to appeal against her latest conviction for the attempted murder of a baby girl has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

Letby’s lawyers asked three senior judges for approval to appeal against her most recent conviction, which followed a retrial in July, for attempting to kill a newborn known as Child K.

Letby, 34, had already been found guilty of murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

Her lawyers had argued her re-trial was unfair because the jury were prejudiced by the media coverage from the original trial - which ended in August 2023.

Letby has already had an appeal against her other 14 convictions thrown out by the Court of Appeal.

A public inquiry into how she was able to commit her crimes is ongoing at Liverpool Town Hall.

At the Court of Appeal earlier, Benjamin Myers KC, representing Letby, had told the court her original trial in 2023 covered an “exceptional case with exceptional media interest”, which could lead to “exceptional unfairness”.

"We are dealing with the impact of media coverage and public comment arising from the first trial, upon the second," he added.

Mr Myers KC had argued the re-trial for Baby K should have been "stayed as an abuse of process", which means the prosecution should have stopped, due to "overwhelming and irremediable prejudice" after the first trial.

He pointed in particular to "emotive" comments made to the media by police officers involved in the investigation into Letby's crimes.

However Nick Johnson KC, who prosecuted the original trial, said in written submissions that the defence application was "misguided" and the jury had found Letby to be a "multiple killer and habitual liar".

Lord Justice William Davis, sitting with Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mrs Justice McGowan, said at the start of their ruling they would “refuse permission” for Letby to challenge the conviction.

In a ruling briefly interrupted by a fire alarm inside the Royal Courts of Justice, he said the Court of Appeal had to take into account the “unrivalled” experience of the judge in charge of both trials and the steps he took to ensure the second prosecution was fair.

Lord Justice Davis said: “We conclude that the judge was right to find that Letby would be able to have a fair trial.”

He added the suggestion police should not have spoken about the case was "fanciful".

Letby, who watched the hearing via a video link from HMP Bronzefield, showed no reaction as the judges gave their ruling.

She had previously been sentenced to 14 whole life orders for the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others, with two attempts on one child, and was sentenced to a 15th whole life term for the attack on Child K.