Lucy Letby is serving 15 whole-life terms for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder a further seven at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016. Her appeals have been rejected twice. Letby’s case is being reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Criticisms of the investigation and evidence against her in this programme are disputed. On 15th September 2026 the Thirlwall Inquiry found ‘dysfunctional management and governance’ was to blame for the failure to protect babies at the hospital. The inquiry did not examine Letby’s trial. Lucy Letby: Scapegoat? Channel 5 2026
Someone’s got to speak out. I’m extremely worried an innocent woman is holed up in prison, and the evidence is extremely poor that she actually did anything wrong. ibid. doctor
The investigation made just about every mistake in the book. ibid. comment
It’s entirely possible that Lucy Letby was a scapegoat. ibid.
I felt that there was probably a more simpler explanation of what was going on. ibid. ex-employee
The hospital dispensed with the more senior nursing staff. ibid.
Could the case against Lucy Letby be flawed from the very start? ibid. journalist/investigator
During the same time period, there were six other deaths on that unit that police couldn’t link to her. If Lucy Letby didn’t cause those deaths, who or what did? ibid.
There wasn’t the staff and the expertise to necessarily care for those babies. ibid. ex-nursing officer made redundant
I think he’s got a virus from dirty sewage in the unit. ibid. mother
No air was found in the heart of any of them. ibid. journalist/investigator
The prosecution said air did not need to be found. ibid.
There never were any crimes committed. ibid. rozzer
The train came off the tracks somewhere. Oh there is an element of people saving their own backs. ibid. ex-employee
He [doctor] should have disclosed everything he did. ibid. rozzer
The order may have been changed on Dr Brearey’s notes. ibid. journalist/investigator
We begin to get a picture that things are not quite right here. ibid. rozzer
Lucy Letby has spent a third of her adult life behind bars. ibid. caption