PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Mr McDonald said the news of the arrests had come at a "very sensitive" time in his client's case. "Despite this the concerns many have raised will not go away, and we will continue to publicly discuss them," he said. He added that "internationally renowned experts" had concluded that no babies were murdered and called for a new public inquiry into "failings" in neonatal and paediatric care at the Countess of Chester."
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STORY: "Three ex-bosses of Lucy Letby arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter," Reporter Johnny Humphries reports from Liverpool, published by BBC News, on July 1, 2025.
SUB-HEADING: "Lucy Letby was convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murder of seven others."
GIST: "Three former senior staff at the hospital where nurse Lucy Letby murdered seven babies and attempted to kill seven others have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
They worked on the senior leadership team at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016 and were bailed after being questioned on Monday.
The arrests came after an investigation into potential corporate manslaughter at the hospital was opened in 2023, and then widened in March this year to include gross negligence manslaughter.
Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole life prison sentences after targeting babies at the hospital's neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.
She was convicted of making two attempts to kill one of the babies.
Cheshire Police said the arrests "did not impact on the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple offences of murder and attempted murder"
Det Supt Paul Hughes said the corporate manslaughter element of the investigation focused on the senior leadership of the hospital and its decision-making, "to determine whether any criminality has taken place concerning the response to the increased levels of fatalities".
He said gross negligence manslaughter was a separate offence and "focuses on the grossly negligent action or inaction of individuals".
Corporate manslaughter can carry an unlimited fine for an organisation but no jail sentence for any individual, whereas gross negligence manslaughter can result in a life sentence for a person convicted of it.
The three people arrested have not been named by police, in line with normal police procedure.
Cheshire Police said it was also carrying out a separate investigation into deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies in Chester and in the Liverpool Women's Hospital, where Letby trained for periods, going back to 2012.
Det Supt Hughes said there were "no set timescales" for the manslaughter investigations.
Letby has maintained her innocence and her barrister, Mark McDonald, submitted an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) earlier this year.
The application included the findings of 14 medical experts who agreed to re-examine the evidence heard at trial and concluded Letby had not harmed any babies.
The CCRC, which has the power to refer cases back to the Court of Appeal, said it was reviewing the application and could give no timescale on when a decision would be reached.
Mr McDonald said the news of the arrests had come at a "very sensitive" time in his client's case.
"Despite this the concerns many have raised will not go away, and we will continue to publicly discuss them," he said.
He added that "internationally renowned experts" had concluded that no babies were murdered and called for a new public inquiry into "failings" in neonatal and paediatric care at the Countess of Chester."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;