Lucy Letby will face a retrial on one count of attempting to murder a baby in her care.
Letby was sentenced to a whole life order after jurors convicted her of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit in 2015 and 2016.
But the jury in her trial at Manchester Crown Court was unable to reach verdicts last month on six counts of attempted murder in relation to five children.
Following a hearing today (September 25) at Manchester Crown Court, prosecutors stated they will be seeking a retrial on one offence of attempted murder. Prosecutors are not proceeding to a retrial on the remaining counts.
Letby, from Hereford, denied all the offences and formally lodged an appeal against her conviction at the Court of Appeal earlier this month.
The 33-year-old is alleged to have attempted to murder a baby girl, known as Child K, in February 2016. A trial has been scheduled for June 10 next year, and could last for two to three weeks.
After the hearing, the Crown Prosecution Service issued a statement about the decision. Jonathan Storer, Chief Crown Prosecutor of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said the families in the case have been spoken to.
He said: “These decisions on whether to seek retrials on the remaining counts of attempted murder were extremely complex and difficult. Before reaching our conclusions we listened carefully to the views of the families affected, police and prosecution counsel.
“Many competing factors were considered including the evidence heard by the court during the long trial and its impact on our legal test for proceeding with a prosecution. We have met with all the families affected by these decisions to explain how they were reached.”
Letby attended this morning’s hearing via videolink from a conference room at HMP New Hall in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. She sat behind a desk and spoke only to confirm her name and that she could see and hear the proceedings.
She had previously refused to attend her sentencing last month where a judge read a victim impact statement as the parents of her victims listened.
A court order prohibits reporting of the identities of the surviving and dead children who were the subject of the allegations.
