Lawyer for Letby victims' families dismisses claims of her innocence as 'purely speculation'

The lawyer representing families whose babies were targeted by Lucy Letby has dismissed claims of her innocence as "purely speculation."

Tamlin Bolton, who represents the families of six victims, described the claims as "upsetting" for all of her clients.

She spoke out following interviews given by Letby's new lawyer, barrister Mark McDonald, who says there is "absolutely" a strong case for her being innocent.

Lucy Letby is now represented by barrister Mark McDonald.

Mr McDonald says "The defence team has science that contradicts what was given at the trail. I have statisticians that challenge the assertions given at the trial and I think that in itself needs to be looked at properly. If I am right and the evidence presented to the jury was wrong then the conviction we have is unreliable and we have an innocent person in prison"

It is believed Mr McDonald will make an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) for Letby’s case to be sent back to the Court of Appeal.

Letby was convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of seven others, with two attempts on one child, when she worked on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

Solicitor Tamlin Bolton represents the families of six of Letby's victims.

Letby is serving 15 whole-life orders – making her only the fourth woman in UK history to be told she will never be released from prison.

Ms Bolton told ITV News: "Fundamentally, Lucy Letby has been found guilty of these crimes. She's exhausted her appeals process.

"Those who have been privy to the full remit of evidence, including the families, the jurors and the judges in the Court of Appeal, have maintained her guilt. So anything outside of that is purely speculation.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Monday 9 September, the solicitor added: "I can’t stress enough how upsetting that has been for all of the families that I represent.

"And they have thought about so many ways in which they can try to address that and deal with it and make sure they put their voice across. But of course they’re restricted by wanting to keep themselves confidential and private.

"So it’s a really difficult challenge for them to try and avoid social media, avoid the reporting about it.

"But when you have children that are now eight or nine years old, they are looking at TikTok, they’re looking at social media and there are people claiming that the harm that was caused to them or their sibling was not caused by somebody who’s been found guilty of those crimes by a jury and whose appeals have been exhausted, and the Court of Appeal have also said she remains guilty of these crimes."

A public inquiry examining events at the Countess of Chester Hospital following Letby’s multiple convictions is due to begin on Tuesday 10 September in Liverpool.

Ms Bolton told ITV News the families she represented wanted the inquiry to be transparent, for there to be accountability for what happened and for it to produce "robust" recommendations for change in maternity care.

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