Thirlwall: ‘outpouring of comment’ on Letby convictions has been ‘noise’ causing ‘enormous stress for parents’ of victims
Jamie Grierson
Jamie Grierson is attending the Thirlwall inquiry for the Guardian:
An “outpouring of comment” on the validity of Lucy Letby’s convictions for murder and attempted murder has created a “noise that has caused an enormous amount of stress for the parents” of her victims, Lady Justice Thirlwall has said on the opening day of a public inquiry into events surrounding the tragic deaths.
Thirlwall told the inquiry that doubts cast on Letby’s convictions have come “entirely from people who were not at the trial” as she opened the inquiry at the Countess of Chester hospital’s neonatal unit where Letby was a nurse between 2015 and 2016.
Thirlwall said it was not for her to review the convictions, adding the court of appeal had done that with a clear result. “The convictions stand,” she said.
Thirlwall added that the inquiry bears her name, rather than the name of Lucy Letby, so parents do not see the name of the person convicted of killing and harming their infants. She said the guilty verdicts did not “ring immediate closure on what happened to their babies.”
The first day of the Thirlwall inquiry will hear opening statements from legal counsel at Liverpool town hall. The three key areas being looked at by the inquiry are: the experiences of the victims’ parents; the conduct of staff at the hospital with regard to Letby when she was employed at the hospital; and the effectiveness of NHS management.
Unlike other recent public inquiries, like that into the handling of the Covid pandemic or the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, the Thirlwall inquiry is not being streamed live to the public. At a preliminary hearing in May, Rachel Langdale KC, counsel to the inquiry, said court orders that prevented the identification of a number of people involved, including all of the babies, had to be complied with, and Thirlwall subsequently ruled against live broadcasts. Core participants and limited sections of the media have been granted remote video access.
Letby, 34, was sentenced to 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others across two separate trials.