Lucy Letby to appeal against murder convictions

Nurse applies for permission to appeal, following her conviction for murders and attempted murders of babies at Countess of Chester Hospital

Lucy Letby is to appeal against her convictions for the murder of seven babies and attempted murder of six others.

The Court of Appeal has received an application for permission to appeal from Letby’s lawyers.

Letby’s lawyers apply for permission to appeal

Letby was sentenced to a whole-life prison term in August for the crimes, committed in 2015 and 2016 on the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital, where she worked as a children’s nurse. She denied all charges.

Applications for permission to appeal against a crown court decision are considered by a judge without a hearing. If refused, people have the right to renew their bid at a full court hearing before judges.

Since Letby’s conviction, the Department of Health and Social Care has committed to a statutory inquiry into her crimes, which will examine how clinicians’ concerns about her were handled.

• RELATED: Letby inquiry gets power to compel witnesses to give evidence

Retrial decision on outstanding attempted murder charges pending

Separately, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is set to announce whether it intends to bring a fresh trial against Letby on a number of outstanding charges of attempted murder.

The jury in her trial at Manchester Crown Court was unable to reach a verdict on six counts of attempted murder in relation to five babies. Letby was cleared of two counts of attempted murder.

• RELATED: Letby may face retrial on six attempted murder charges

A hearing is scheduled to take place at the court on 25 September, when the CPS will state its intentions regarding a retrial.

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