Lucy Letby has been refused permission to enchantment in opposition to a conviction for making an attempt to homicide a child woman on the hospital the place she labored.
The previous nurse, who’s serving 12 whole-life jail phrases, had sought to overturn the conviction on the idea that she was unable to have a good trial because of the “unadulterated vitriol” of media protection.
However senior judges dismissed her authorized problem following a two-hour listening to on the courtroom of enchantment in London on Thursday.
Letby, now 34, gave no response to the judges’ ruling, listening impassively through videolink from the UK’s solely all-women jail, HMP Bronzefield in Surrey.
Letby was initially convicted of murdering seven infants and making an attempt to homicide six on the neonatal unit on the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England.
She was discovered responsible following a retrial in June of making an attempt to homicide a seventh toddler, often called Child Okay.
Letby, who has persistently maintained her innocence, had been refused permission to enchantment in opposition to final yr’s convictions.
The previous nurse on Thursday requested Lord Justice William Davis, Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mrs Justice McGowan to permit her to enchantment in opposition to her conviction for attempting to kill Child Okay.
Benjamin Myers KC, for Letby, instructed the three judges that it was “unprecedented” for such “extremely prejudicial and emotive” remark to have been made a few defendant earlier than a prison trial.
He mentioned police detectives had described the nurse as “evil, merciless and devoid of emotion” whereas a senior prosecutor had labelled her “devious, cold-blooded, calculated [and] manipulative” following her first trial final yr.
Myers, for Letby, mentioned the trial choose, Mr Justice James Goss, had been incorrect to permit the retrial to go forward given the “overwhelming and irremediable” public remark that adopted her authentic convictions.
The barrister mentioned the enchantment was centered solely on this “very slim” argument of abuse of course of and never the wide-ranging considerations which were raised in regards to the proof in current months. He mentioned the media had been “saturated with unadulterated vitriol” in the direction of the previous nurse earlier than the retrial, citing 62 examples of hostile protection, together with a debate on ITV’s Free Ladies titled: “Was Lucy Letby born evil?”
Myers mentioned it had been “unprecedented” for a police power,on this case Cheshire constabulary, to launch into “blistering assaults” on a defendant at a time when a retrial was into consideration.
He instructed the judges: “The place the police have launched into a media marketing campaign which undoubtedly this was … in such emotively charged circumstances in opposition to a background of a number of convictions for essentially the most grave offences and the place they knew a retrial was into consideration – we are saying that’s unfair and will offend the courtroom’s sense of justice and propriety.”
Nick Johnson KC, the prosecutor, mentioned this was not an “cheap or correct” characterisation of the media protection.
He instructed the judges that a lot of the disapproving public remark had been directed in the direction of hospital administration for permitting Letby to stay on the neonatal unit regardless of considerations raised by senior medical doctors.
Johnson additionally mentioned the overwhelming majority of the media materials cited by Letby appeared within the speedy aftermath of the convictions in August 2023, 10 months earlier than the retrial, so would have “light” from the reminiscence of any jurors.
He cited the instance of a “very, very pro-Lucy Letby” article by the New Yorker, revealed within the weeks earlier than the retrial, which he mentioned had been given “important traction” when it was talked about in parliament by Sir David Davis.
Johnson mentioned: “If ever this courtroom desires proof that publicity had no impact on this jury, that is it. As a result of this was very pro-Letby, anti-prosecution materials circulating with important traction on the web within the weeks and days earlier than the trial.”
He added: “In that context, one remembers the outdated epithet that at this time’s entrance web page is tomorrow’s fish and chip wrappers.”
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