"BACKGROUND: From a previous (Jan. 11, 2024) post of this Blog: Horizon "Post Office scandal: U.K. Major (Welcome) Development: The Independent (Reporters Kate Devlin and Archie Mitchell) reports that a TV drama has forced Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to announce a new law exonerating 736 convicted subpostmasters…"The scandal began when Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon accounting software made it appear as though money was missing from Post Office branches. Subpostmasters were forced to pay back many thousands of pounds, while hundreds were convicted based on the faults. Despite warnings from subpostmasters, the Post Office was prosecuting those caught up in the scandal as recently as 2015. Mr Sunak said they were victims of “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation's history”. (July 8, 2025);
https://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2025/07/horizon-postal-service-tragedy-uk-most.html
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Letby was convicted of killing seven babies between 2015 and 2016 at the Countess of Chester hospital in Cheshire, and trying to kill seven more. Her only remaining route to freedom or a retrial is via a referral from the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body responsible for investigating potential miscarriages of justice."
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STORY: " (Letby Probe): Lucy Letby case is miscarriage of justice like Post Office scandal, blasts MP as he shares ‘proof’ cops bungled probe," by Investigations Editor Ron Pattinson, published by 'The Sun' on April 14, 2026.
GIST: AN MP today likened the Lucy Letby case to the Birmingham Six and Post Office scandal as he hit back at cop claims he misled Parliament.
Veteran Tory Sir David Davis publicly slammed investigators in a Commons speech last month, claiming they bungled the Letby investigation.
Cheshire Police’s top cop, Chief Constable Mark Roberts, wrote to Davis this week accusing him of misleading Parliament and demanding he set the record straight.
Sir David has now released a list of the publicly available material he claims show cops failed to follow strict guidelines over the investigation and potentially exposed their officers to worrying confirmation bias as they hunted convictions against Letby, 36.
He has also urged the force to refer itself to the police watchdog so the claims can be looked at fully.
It comes after a Sun investigation with retired Beverley Allitt cop Stuart Clifton ended with the ex-detective claiming Lucy Letby was the victim of the “biggest miscarriage of justice this century” earlier this year.
Stuart’s report – and research by former assistant Ch Con of Hampshire Police Steve Watts – were quoted heavily by Sir David in his criticism of Cheshire cops that started the emerging row.
Sir David wrote: “If you are, as you suggest, open to scrutiny, I strongly urge you act upon my recommendation that you refer Cheshire Constabulary to another independent force via His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) for an independent review of the Operation Hummingbird investigation.
“It seems that I must remind you that miscarriages of justice, including the Birmingham Six and the Post Office Horizon scandal, only came to light because of extensive scrutiny from Members of Parliament.
“When there are concerns about miscarriages of justice, transparency is essential.”
The former Brexit secretary also pointed out his speech was constructed using publicly available documentation – including some from Cheshire Constabulary itself, as well as evidence from the Thirlwall public inquiry into the case.
In his letter, Sir David refutes Ch Con Roberts’ claim that the team of detectives investigating the case went to ‘exhaustive lengths’ to look into all lines of inquiry, and that ‘no stone was left unturned’.
He wrote: “You state Operation Hummingbird commenced in May 2017, and it was not until more than a year later, in June 2018, that Letby was designated a suspect.
“Operation Hummingbird was reported in the press within days of a meeting that took place on May 15 2017, between hospital consultants, DCS Wenham and then-DI Hughes. The Thirlwall Inquiry document makes plain that at this meeting, the allegations focused on a particular nurse, named explicitly as “Lucy Letby“.
“On September 23 2024, in his evidence to the Thirlwall Inquiry, the father of Baby K described how, in May 2017, within days of Operation Hummingbird commencing, he and his wife were visited by two officers who told them that “it was an investigation into a nurse at Chester hospital.
“It is clear that this could only have derived from a briefing given by the leadership of Operation Hummingbird.
“On June 30 2017, a briefing summary was prepared and shared with the National Crime Agency, with a request that it be shared with Dr Dewi Evans (the chief prosecution medical expert) before his first meeting with the Operation Hummingbird team.
“This Summary for the National Injuries Database, titled ‘Operation Hummingbird Summary Countess of Chester Hospital Enquiry’, highlights that there was “one member of the nursing staff who had been present at more of the cases than any other member of staff”.
“It is therefore clear that the focus of the investigation was on a single nurse, Lucy Letby, from a year before the assertion you made in your letter.”
Sir David also said Ch Con Roberts’ “extraordinary” claim that he had duped Parliament by saying the investigation relied on one medical expert – Dr Evans – was ‘patently untrue’.
The officer denied Cheshire Police sought a report from a leading statistician – Professor Jane Hutton – asking her to put a figure on the ‘likelihood of there being one member of staff on duty during all the deaths/collapses in the neonatal unit’, an approach she later warned detectives was ‘wrong’.
However, Sir David said a detective sergeant approached Prof Hutton in March 2018, with the expert going on to sign a consultancy agreement – and even invoicing the force.
But three years later, in July 2021, the detective wrote to Prof Hutton saying: “The prosecutor does not agree with our line of inquiry and has instructed us not to pursue this avenue, any further, at present”.
Sir David added: “The real problem we are facing here revolves around the lack of understanding that all public servants are accountable to Parliament.
“On September 5 2024 you failed to answer a series of questions from me directly related to the matters subsequently covered in my speech.
“On September 13 2024, you refused to answer any further questions, stating: ‘I will not be providing any further detail or engaging in ongoing correspondence’.
“This of itself was an astonishing response to a Member of Parliament on a matter of significant public interest.
“On March 27 2026, Cheshire Constabulary issued a press release responding to my adjournment debate suggesting that I and others have been responsible for ‘spreading misinformation’.
“The concerns I have raised have been expressed by leading national and international authorities on neonatology, forensics, statistics, law and other relevant specialisms, all of whom have expressed severe concerns about the entire basis of the evidential case that your Constabulary purported to bring.
“This is not misinformation. This all indicates an extraordinary attitude to the proper accountability of public servants to the House of Commons.
“One that I must say is difficult to reconcile with your assertion that ‘scrutiny of policing is legitimate and welcome’.”
Letby was convicted of killing seven babies between 2015 and 2016 at the Countess of Chester hospital in Cheshire, and trying to kill seven more.
Her only remaining route to freedom or a retrial is via a referral from the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body responsible for investigating potential miscarriages of justice.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/38813773/lucy-letby-case-miscarriage-justice-mp-blasts-cops/
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Rob Pattinson is an award-winning journalist and documentary producer. He is Investigations Editor at The Sun. In 2025 he revealed the Madeleine McCann files, culminating in a Sun documentary on suspect Christian Brueckner that aired on Channel 4’s Dispatches and attracted 3million viewers. He continues to investigate the case alongside other topics including society, scandal, politics, public figures, footballers, celebrities, lottery wins, Royals and cold case crimes. Rob was a double ‘Scoop of the Year’ winner in 2022 for the investigation that revealed Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s lockdown-breaching affair and was previously nominated for his work on exploding Vauxhalls in 2016.He broke the scandal of Captain Tom’s daughter pocketing donated cash to build a spa in the back garden of the home and unmasked the ‘last Nazi’. He revealed toddler Bronson Battersby being allowed to ‘starve’ to death in modern-day Britain and been written to by Austrian cellar monster Josef Fritzl. Rob notably exposed the notoriously secret Piers Gaveston parties at Oxford University for the first time. Rob worked extensively on The Sun’s coverage of the death of the Queen, revealing King Charles’ first words in person to his subjects and William’s touching admission the death reminded him of losing his mum. Rob has been at The Sun and Sun on Sunday since 2013 and covers the East, South and Midlands. He has also worked extensively in France and Germany. He is an accomplished videographer, scripter, presenter and editor. He studied Politics and holds a Masters in International Journalism. He is committed to protecting sources at all times.
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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. 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.
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;
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;
