The chief prosecution witness in the Lucy Letby trial has criticised an unprecedented report by experts into baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital, saying it is “worth very little”.
Dr Dewi Evans, a retired paediatrician from Carmarthen, denied that he had been selective with evidence, or failed to pick up problems with medical care at the hospital.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Dr Shoo Lee, an eminent Canadian neonatologist, outlined findings from 14 world-leading experts who suggested there had been no murders or attacks on babies.
Dr Lee said Dr Evans needed to answer questions about why he had failed to spot issues in care at the hospital, and why he had looked for “malfeasance” when there was an obvious cause of death in all cases.
In responses, shown to The Telegraph by the podcast Was There Ever A Crime: The Trials of Lucy Letby, Dr Evans said: “Lee’s questions are easy to answer, but I’m not very keen on participating in ‘appeal via press conference’.
“It’s not how scientific and clinical research is presented. And it’s not how the formal legal process functions.”
Dr Evans claimed he had identified “several problems” in the care of the babies, which were “all disclosed in my reports and evidence”.
He added: “I disagree with Lee’s assertion that I was ‘selective’. Quite the contrary. This is why I asked to review all the deaths and collapses from 2015 and 2016, not just the ’suspicious’ or ‘unexpected’ ones, or the ones where Letby was on duty.
“That’s why I told the police that if they had a ’suspect’, I didn’t want to know. I only heard about Letby in July 2018, when she was arrested for the first time.
“I identified malfeasance because the evidence pointed to it.”
Letby, 35, of Herefordshire, was convicted of seven counts of murder and seven of attempted murder and is serving 14 whole-life terms.
But since her convictions there has been disquiet over the evidence presented to the jury, and dozens of scientists, medics and statisticians have come forward to voice their concerns.
In an unprecedented intervention this week, experts reviewed the 17 deaths and collapses of infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital and found they all had medical explanations.
Their findings mirror several post-mortem examinations and reviews that were undertaken by the Countess of Chester during 2015 and 2016.
On Tuesday, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) confirmed it had received an application from Letby’s legal team. The legal watchdog has been preparing for an application since September and stood up a team several months ago.
The new team of experts said that the final report into all the deaths and collapses would be completed by the end of the month and passed to Letby’s lawyers and then to the CCRC.
There have been calls to release Letby on parole, including from Dr Lee, who has suggested she be kept under house arrest.
He told The Telegraph: “It is wrong to keep someone in jail who hasn’t done a crime.
“She has already spent several years in jail. It would seem reasonable [to release her]. There is [the option] of house arrest.”
He said he was prepared to meet the families “at the right time” and said he hoped they would see the report.
The Crown Prosecution Service said that two juries had convicted Letby and three court of appeal judges had refused to grant leave to appeal after examining the evidence.
A public inquiry is continuing to look into how deaths at the Countess of Chester could have been prevented. Cheshire Constabulary are continuing investigations into baby deaths at the hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where Letby worked as a trainee.
