Neonatologist who Lucy Letby’s defence team failed to call says he is ‘troubled’ by not giving evidence and claims the jury were not told ‘the whole truth’ during her trial
An expert witness who was not called by Lucy Letby’s defence team said he felt “troubled” at not being able to give evidence and that his participation could have led to a different outcome.
Neonatologist Dr Michael Hall said he had been struggling with the nurse’s case “for some time” and “felt the jury had not heard the whole truth”.
Although Dr. Hall was hired as an expert witness by Letby’s defense lawyers, he was not called to testify at the Manchester District Court.
Letby, 34, was convicted in two trials of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of seven others while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
She was sentenced to life in prison for her crimes, meaning she will never be released from prison. However, some have raised questions about the evidence presented to the first jury.
Neonatologist Dr Michael Hall said he had been struggling with Lucy Lety’s case ‘for some time’ and ‘did not believe the jury heard the whole truth’
Although Dr. Hall was hired as an expert witness by Letby’s defense lawyers, he was not called to testify at the Manchester District Court.
Dr Hall said he would have disputed some of the prosecution’s claims, saying: The Times: ‘I would have given different answers than the medical experts of the Public Prosecution Service, and I would have interpreted a number of things differently.
“That doesn’t mean I know all the answers, or that I know Lucy Letby is innocent. There were certainly some events that were difficult to explain.”
The doctor said he believed the expert witnesses called by the prosecution “exaggerated the extent to which some babies were ‘completely stable’ before they collapsed.”
He argued that the evidence to support the prosecution’s claim that some young victims had been injected with air was relatively weak.
Dr Hall also stressed that most of the evidence was ‘circumstantial’ and that there was ‘little forensic evidence’ to support the charge.
The neonatologist said he doesn’t know why he wasn’t called by the defense, despite being one of their expert witnesses.
Attorney Mark Solon, who runs a training firm that teaches expert witnesses how to work within the legal system, said there were several possible reasons.
One possible explanation is that the defense felt that Dr. Hall would not do well under cross-examination, perhaps because he did not fully endorse Letby’s innocence, or because they felt they had already made their case.
A photo of Letby during a night out that she shared on her social media
Letby, who worked at the Countess of Cheshire Hospital, testified in court
Letby is considered Britain’s most prolific baby killer in modern times. Between June 2015 and June 2016, he murdered seven babies and attempted to murder another seven.
She is still being investigated by Cheshire Police for possible other crimes against babies, even earlier in her career as a nurse.
Officers are currently reviewing the medical records of 4,000 babies at two hospitals where Letby worked between 2012 and 2016: the Countess of Chester and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
In August 2023, Letby refused to leave his cell and was sentenced to a whopping 14 life sentences.
Last month, Letby was found guilty of the attempted murder of a premature baby girl, known as Baby K, after the jury failed to reach a verdict in the original trial. She was later sentenced to 15 life terms for the crime.
The child, born after 25 weeks of pregnancy and weighing only 692 grams, was described by the Public Prosecution Service as ‘the epitome of vulnerability’.
Approximately 90 minutes after her birth, Letby’s breathing tube was disconnected and she was ventilated with air and oxygen.
Letby was caught ‘almost red-handed’ attempting to murder Baby K by the head neonatal physician at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Dr Ravi Jayaram, in the early hours of February 17, 2016.
Judge Goss KC told Letby: ‘It was another shocking act of calculated, callous cruelty.’
Bodycam footage released by Cheshire Police shows Letby’s arrest
The neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital where Letby worked
He said she had “betrayed the trust of Baby K, her parents and everyone at the hospital.”
“You have flatly denied responsibility. You have shown no remorse. There are no extenuating circumstances,” he added.
Baby K’s mother said in a victim impact statement: ‘Baby K is not here, never will be, we will never have anything that gives us peace, closure or a sense of a complete family unit.
“But you, Lucy Letby, will never hurt another child or experience the privileges and joys that children bring.”
The killer’s repeated denials have sparked a wave of conspiracy theories among those convinced of her innocence. During the retrial, Letby supporters sometimes queued to enter both Court 7 and the overspill annex in Court 16.