Three babies may have survived if hospital had acted over Lucy Letby concerns, inquiry finds
Josh Halliday
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inquiry → survive → Halliday
Three babies may have survived and seven others could have been protected if hospital bosses and doctors had taken action over concerns about the nurse Lucy Letby, an official inquiry into the deaths has concluded.
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inquiry → survive → deaths
A public inquiry led by Lady Justice Thirlwall found a “complete failure” to protect babies on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England.
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inquiry → lead → England
In a series of devastating findings, the judge said two newborn twins would not have died and five others would not have been harmed if Letby had been removed from the unit sooner.
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Letby → say → unit
Thirlwall said a third baby, a two-month-old girl, and two others who suffered unexplained collapses may have been protected if a doctor had detected an earlier insulin poisoning on the unit.
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doctor → say → unit
One of those infants, now aged 11, suffered a lifelong brain injury and needs 24-hour care.
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One → age → care
You can read more here:
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You → read → more
The report has been published now.
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report → publish → ?
You can read it in full here.
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You → read → it
Lady Justice Thirwall has began her address.
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Thirwall → begin → address
We will bring you the highlights of what she said.
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she → bring → what
Three babies may have survived if hospital had acted over Lucy Letby concerns, inquiry finds
Josh Halliday
uncertain
inquiry → survive → concerns
Three babies may have survived and seven others could have been protected if hospital bosses and doctors had taken action over concerns about the nurse Lucy Letby, an official inquiry into the deaths has concluded.
uncertain
inquiry → survive → deaths
A public inquiry led by Lady Justice Thirlwall found a “complete failure” to protect babies on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England.
asserted
inquiry → lead → England
In a series of devastating findings, the judge said two newborn twins would not have died and five others would not have been harmed if Letby had been removed from the unit sooner.
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Letby → say → unit
Thirlwall said a third baby, a two-month-old girl, and two others who suffered unexplained collapses may have been protected if a doctor had detected an earlier insulin poisoning on the unit.
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doctor → say → unit
One of those infants, now aged 11, suffered a lifelong brain injury and needs 24-hour care.
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One → suffer → care
You can read more here:
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You → read → more
We are expecting the Thirlwall Inquiry report to be published here in five minutes.
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report → expect → minutes
The document is said to be huge, running into hundreds of pages, and will likely describe widespread failings in safeguarding at the Countess of Chester hospital, where Lucy Letby worked.
The Guardian’s north of England editor, Josh Halliday, is at Liverpool town hall, which is the venue for the first reading of the report.
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which → say → report
He is among the members of the media who were allowed access to the report this morning, and we will be able to report the findings shortly.
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we → allow → findings
Lady Justice Thirlwall is expected to deliver a televised statement just after 12.30pm, which you can watch live here or at the top of the blog:
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you → expect → blog
Letby’s barrister insists case has not been undermined despite experts quitting
Mark McDonald, Lucy Letby’s barrister, yesterday appeared on BBC Newsnight and reacted to the news that two members of the former nurse’s defence team had withdrawn earlier in the day over concerns about the “scientific credibility” of some of its evidence.
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members → insist → evidence
As a reminder, the defence team has submitted evidence to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which is reviewing material relating to Letby’s convictions.
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which → submit → convictions
“They don’t know what I put into the CCRC because I haven’t told them.
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I → know → them
So how on earth could they make that conclusion?” he told the BBC.
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he → make → BBC
“But really, it comes back to this.
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it → come → this
Both sets of experts say that Lucy Letby is innocent.
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Letby → say → experts
“One set of experts remains in the CCRC.
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set → remain → CCRC
One set of experts have withdrawn.
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set → withdraw → experts
But they both are of the same position that whatever happened at the trial, what took place at the trial, was wrong, that the jury was misled.”
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jury → happen → trial
McDonald said previously that the recommendations made in the Thirlwall inquiry report will be “significantly undermined” when his client is “found innocent of all crimes” and has criticised the process a waste of taxpayers money.
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process → say → money
Experts quit Lucy Letby’s defence team a day before inquiry report is published
Josh Halliday
Two experts withdrew from Letby’s defence team on Monday.
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experts → quit → Monday
They said that although they stood by their assessment that it was “very unlikely” two of the babies were poisoned, some of the arguments being put forward on her behalf were “inconsistent with the available evidence, science and established physiology”.
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some → say → evidence
Helen Shannon, a British chemical engineering expert, and Geoff Chase, a professor of bioengineering based in New Zealand, produced a 100-page report last year casting doubt on her convictions for poisoning two babies with insulin.
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Shannon → base → insulin
They told the Guardian last year there was a “very strong level of reasonable doubt” about those two convictions, which formed a central part of the prosecution case against Letby.
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which → tell → Letby
The 36-year-old nurse was convicted in 2023 of trying to murder two newborn boys, known as Baby 6 and Baby 12, by spiking their feeding bags with insulin.
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nurse → convict → insulin
Letby 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.
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she → serve → June
Shannon and Chase said on Monday they stood by their assessment, but could not support other evidence used by Letby’s defence team relating to the insulin cases.
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they → say → cases
You can read the full story here:
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You → read → story
…and 23 more, not listed.
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