Lady Justice Thirlwall, chairwoman of the inquiry into disgraced nurse Lucy Letby, has refused requests to delay the proceedings until the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) makes a decision on Letby's case. Thirlwall stated that her inquiry is not examining the guilt or innocence of Letby, whose convictions are not within the scope of her remit.
"The quick take is this. The report won't change the narrative about Letby's guilt or innocence because it didn't examine that subject at all. That wasn't its remit," Thirlwall said in a statement. She emphasized that she approached the inquiry on the basis that Lucy Letby is guilty of the crimes for which she has been convicted and that the Court of Appeal had already reviewed the convictions with a clear outcome.
Despite Thirlwall's directive, the subject of Letby's convictions was a point of contention during the inquiry's conclusion. Former hospital executives applied for a delay, arguing that the CCRC's ongoing review should be concluded before the inquiry's findings are released. Letby's legal team and MP Sir David Davis also wrote letters pushing for a pause, with Davis arguing that an inquiry proceeding on the presumption of Letby's conviction's safety would undermine its own conclusions.
Lady Justice Thirlwall denied these requests, explaining that her focus is not on scrutinizing Letby's actions, but on the conduct of officials and managers responsible for responding to the crisis at the Countess of Chester Hospital. The inquiry is expected to identify failures in patient safety protocols at the hospital.
Dame Vera Baird, chairwoman of the CCRC, confirmed that the commission will be closely observing the Thirlwall report's findings. The CCRC is the only organization with the authority to send Letby's case back to the Court of Appeal. "We will be looking at the report with interest to assess whether it has any bearing on our review of the case," Baird told the BBC. The CCRC has not indicated when it expects to reach a decision.