Lucy Letby is (possibly) innocent

Several experts have cast doubt on the ‘killer’ nurse’s conviction

Photo: Cheshire constabulary

The former neo-natal nurse Lucy Letby ranks as one of Britain’s most prolific serial killers, destined to spend the rest of her days behind bars, having been found guilty of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder eight more between 2015 and 2016 while working at the Countess of Chester hospital in the north-west of England .

But could it be – could it possibly be – that this 34-year-old ‘angel of death’, described by the Guardian as ‘one of the most notorious female murderers of the last century’ and now reviled by millions, did not carry out the depraved acts attributed to her? And could it be that, by extension, we have witnessed one of the gravest miscarriages of justices in British history?

After 21 months of court proceedings – which finally ended a fortnight ago on the conclusion of a retrial on one of the attempted murder counts – reporting restrictions are lifted, and the media is now free to publish opinion on the case.

And, already, serious doubts about the integrity of the evidence on which Letby was convicted have been expressed, including by a number of experts. In fact, I cannot recall another criminal case of such profile where so many individuals of repute have been so swift to question the verdict.