Lucy Letby 'victim of greatest miscarriage of justice this century,' admits detective who caught child killer
The former nurse is currently serving 15 life terms after being convicted in 2024
Lucy Letby is a victim of the 'greatest miscarriage of justice this century', the former detective who caught the 'Angel of Death' child killer Beverly Allitt has said.
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Former Detective Superintendent Stuart Clifton expressed his belief that the former neonatal nurse was innocent; a view supported by several high-profile figures since Letby's conviction in 2024.
Mr Clifton has been reviewing the evidence against Letby, who is set to die in prison after she was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven others at Countess of Chester Hospital.
The revelation comes days after it was announced that the 36-year-old will not face any further charges over additional deaths and collapses of babies that were investigated by police.
Read more: Unseen Lucy Letby footage shows child killer crying as she's arrested in her bed by police
In a report by The Sun, Mr Clifton said he could find no persuasive evidence that any of the babies Letby was convicted over were intentionally harmed.
It was also said to be no evidence that she "made attempts to harm them or any babies," and no evidence that the letters she wrote actually amounted to a confession.
He said: "I am totally satisfied that Lucy Letby is innocent of all charges and that the evidence in relation to the causes of deaths and collapses put forward at trial is incorrect.
"The net result is that this is likely the greatest miscarriage of justice this century — and that we have seen in a very long time."
Last week, a trailer was released for a Netflix film documenting Letby's crimes, showing clips of the neonatal nurse's police interviews.
Senior detectives' testimonies will be heard, and the documentary will also feature an interview with a victim’s mother.
It marks the first time a family member involved in the prosecution has broken their silence for a television documentary.
The trailer shows the convicted baby killer in bed at her parents' home in Hereford, appearing confused as a police officer explains that she is under arrest.
Mr Clifton added: "The inquiry in the Letby case seems to have started from the presumption that there were unlawful acts being committed at the neonatal unit at Chester Hospital.
"That’s a dangerous presumption to start from. I think what one should do from the start is what we did in the Allitt case.
"That was, look at the evidence that is available which would support the supposition that these children died as the result of criminal hands."
The former cop spent 23 years as a senior detective reviewing evidence and authorising charging before the CPS took over the function in 2004.
He was behind the case of child killer Allitt, who was convicted of killing four children and tried to murder another nine in 1991 when she worked at Grantham Hospital in Lincolnshire.
Letby's prosecution was based on medical opinion that babies were harmed but this review found no medical evidence that any of the babies suffered intentional harm.
Mr Clifton points to internal and external reviews that failed to find any suggestion of criminality.
The only forensic suggestion babies might have been intentionally harmed was high insulin readings in two babies who collapsed.
Cheshire Police and the hospital declined to provide comment to The Sun.