Mike Lynch 'had concerns over killer nurse Lucy Letby's conviction' before billionaire died in Bayesian shipwreck

25 August 2024, 19:16

Billionaire Mike Lynch 'held concerns about the killer nurse Lucy Letby's conviction' before he died aboard his £30m superyacht last week, a former Tory minister has said.

Former Brexit secretary David Davis said that the late billionaire yacht owner was considering funding a British "Innocence Project" to look at the baby killer's case.

Letby, 34, was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court for murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of seven others at the Countess of Chester Hospital's neo-natal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.

She has received 15 whole life orders following her convictions at Manchester Crown Court.

Mr Davis said Mr Lynch believed the prosecution case against Letby was weak in an interview with the Sunday Times.

Writing in the newspaper, the Tory bigwig said: "He raised the case of the Lucy Letby trial as one that had already caught his attention.

"Mike was a world-class expert on probability theory, and saw straight through the statistical weaknesses that underpinned the Letby prosecution."

Paying tribute to the late Mr Lynch, Mr Davis said: "The tragic death of Mike Lynch marks the end of an incredible life and the loss of a man whose name became synonymous with battling the injustices of the UK-US extradition treaty."

"In Mike's case the highly politicised American prosecutorial system acted like an arm of corporate America, in this case Hewlett-Packard.

"The American case was so flimsy that an American jury threw out all 15 charges, and an initially hostile judge completely changed his stance."

Mr Lynch’s death was confirmed after a days-long search of the superyacht Bayesian, after it sank off the coast of Palermo in a storm earlier this week.

He died alongside his 18-year-old daughter Hannah aboard the vessel.

Mr Lynch died just months after being cleared in a 13-year legal saga centred around the £8.6 billion sale of Autonomy to Silicon Valley pioneer Hewlett Packard (HP).

The tech tycoon had been charged with orchestrating a fraud and conspiracy leading up to the 2011 deal, which turned into a costly albatross for HP.

The boat trip was a celebration of Mr Lynch’s acquittal in the case.