The Japan Times - Netflix film probes conviction of UK baby killer nurse

Lucy Letby, 36, from Hereford, western England, was charged in 2020 following a string of deaths at a hospital's neo-natal unit.

But she has always maintained her innocence and a panel of international experts has since argued her conviction was wrong.

Her case shocked the nation during lengthy trials in 2023 and 2024, after which she was convicted and jailed for life for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more.

Her young victims were either sick or born prematurely, and she was accused of injecting them with air, overfeeding them milk and poisoning them with insulin.

Ahead of the release of "The Investigation Of Lucy Letby", the former nurse's parents called the film "a complete invasion of privacy" for its use of previously unseen police bodycam footage of their daughter being arrested at their family home, The Sunday Times reported.

In a statement after watching the film's trailer, John and Susan Letby said they did not plan to watch the documentary.

"It would likely kill us if we did," they said.

"The previous programmes made about Lucy, including Panorama and the almost nightly news showing her being brought out handcuffed in a blue tracksuit are heartbreaking for us," they said.

"However, this Netflix documentary is on another level. We had no idea they were using footage in our house."

The film opens with the scene they refer to, of Letby's arrest in June 2019.

Police enter her bedroom and she is seen sitting up in bed, in pyjamas, appearing confused, as police say they are arresting her for murder. She is then taken away in her dressing gown.

The 90-minute film does not claim to be exhaustive, but aims to offer the public the perspectives of both sides of a case that continues to prompt questions and accusations of a miscarriage of justice.

It highlights unsettling elements, such as Letby responding "no comment" to police questions while in custody, and excerpts from her diary where dates coinciding with the babies' deaths are marked with an asterisk.

- 'Wrong person?' -

Conversely, the film also includes testimony from Canadian physician Shoo Lee, who challenged the expert evidence presented at trial. It ends with that of John Gibbs, a former pediatrician at the hospital where Letby worked.

"I live with two guilts," he says.

"Guilt that we let the babies down, and tiny, tiny, tiny guilt: did we get the wrong person? You know, just in case: a miscarriage of justice. I don't think there was a miscarriage of justice, but you worry that no one actually saw her do it."

Letby was twice denied permission to appeal against her convictions in 2024.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, is considering evidence presented on her behalf from an international panel of medics who claim poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the babies.

Inquests into the deaths of six babies who Letby was convicted of murdering have been opened and then adjourned to May 5.

The inquest into the seventh baby did not determine the cause of death.

The senior coroner at the inquests adjourned them until September pending the outcome of a public inquiry into the Letby case which is due to be published this year.

Health Minister Wes Streeting told LBC radio Wednesday her fate should be decided by the courts and not campaigners "unless and until there is a judicial process that says that the court has got it wrong".

S.Yamamoto--JT