The former nurse Lucy Letby will face no new charges on suspicion of murdering or harming babies, prosecutors have announced.
Letby, 36, is serving 15 whole-life prison terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others in the year to June 2016.
The Crown Prosecution Service had been considering further charges against Letby in relation to nine babies, including the alleged murder of a baby at the Countess of Chester hospital and another at Liverpool Women’s hospital. However, it said the evidence did not meet the test required to bring fresh charges.
The CPS is understood to stand by the charges that resulted in Letby’s convictions.
Cheshire constabulary, which has been investigating Letby since 2017, expressed surprise and disappointment at the decision.
The force insisted the announcement did not “affect or undermine” her existing convictions and that its investigation into hospital bosses continued.
It added: “There will be some who will feel that this is news worth celebrating. We do not share this view and would ask that people respect the privacy and feelings of the families involved.”
Letby’s convictions, which followed two trials at Manchester crown court, are some of the most contentious in recent British legal history.
The former neonatal nurse, from Hereford, has always insisted she is innocent and that babies died or became seriously unwell as a result of poor care and under-qualified staff at the Countess of Chester hospital.
She has twice unsuccessfully attempted to overturn the convictions at the court of appeal in London.
Her legal team referred the case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, in February last year.
The CPS said on Tuesday it had considered 11 new offences: two of murder and two of attempted murder in relation to two babies who died, and seven of attempted murder in relation to seven babies who survived.
Prosecutors received a file of evidence in relation to the potential charges in July last year.
Frank Ferguson, the head of the CPS’s special crime division, said it had written to the families of the babies and would offer to meet them to explain their decision, adding: “Our thoughts remain with them.”
Letby’s barrister, Mark McDonald, said the nurse had always maintained her innocence and that she had “never hurt a child and never would”.
He said there was “overwhelming evidence that no babies were murdered” and that her case should be urgently referred back to the court of appeal. “The reality is that a young innocent woman is in prison for crimes she has not committed.”
Investigators at the CCRC are considering a dossier of 31 reports, compiled by 26 experts, which Letby’s legal team say significantly undermine her convictions.
A panel of experts instructed by Letby’s lawyers said last year they had found no evidence she had murdered or harmed any of the babies she was convicted of attacking.
They concluded that the 17 newborns had instead suffered a catalogue of “bad medical care” or deteriorated as a result of natural causes.
David Davis, the senior Conservative MP who has described Letby as the victim of “one of the major injustices of modern times”, welcomed the CPS decision.
He said: “In my view, the ‘evidence’ in the original cases failed to prove guilt, and this is the reason that Letby’s lawyers have taken the matter back to the Criminal Case Review Commission.
“The CCRC must conclude its review quickly and refer the case to the court of appeal. It has long been my view that any retrial in Lucy Letby’s case should happen as quickly as possible.”
Cheshire constabulary said the decision was “not the outcome that we had anticipated” and that it had been confident the evidence was sufficiently strong.
The force stands by its original investigation into Letby and said its ongoing inquiry into hospital bosses over alleged corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter was ongoing.
Three former senior leaders at the Countess of Chester hospital were arrested in June 2025 on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. All three remained on bail pending further inquiries, the force said on Tuesday. It added: “Our thoughts remain with the families affected by this.”
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