Former minister David Davis plans to visit Lucy Letby in prison amid conviction probe

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK

Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Former cabinet minister Sir David Davis hopes to visit Lucy Letby in prison as part of an investigation into whether the serial baby killer may be the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

The former Brexit Secretary said he would try to visit the 34-year-old in HMP Bronzefield, Surrey, if he was “at least three-quarters persuaded that she’s innocent”.

Letby is serving 15 whole-life sentences for seven murders and seven attempted murders of babies in her care between 2015 and 2016.

It comes after Sir David told The Independent he was set to spearhead a probe questioning the conviction of Letby after a series of experts cast doubt over her guilt.

He previously told The Independent: “I am intending to have a debate in September. It will give us time to go through the evidence – of which there is a vast quantity.

“With a lot of people claiming a mistrial, including statisticians, nurses and senior medics, as well as reports of people being warned off giving evidence, it is clear we need to look at it quite closely.”

Several medical professionals have raised questions over Letby’s conviction. In one podcast, the statistician Peter Elston and retired paediatrician Michael McConville claimed there had been inadequacies in the medical evidence presented during her trial.

Speaking of his plans, Sir David told the Daily T podcast: “I may not be allowed to, her lawyer may say no; she may say no. That’s got to be with her permission.

“For me to do anything about this, I’ve got to be at least three-quarters persuaded that she’s innocent. I’ll read millions of words of evidence over August and come to a conclusion in probably September or maybe October.

“But if I do come to the conclusion that she’s innocent, I’ll be raising it in Parliament and seeking to get a Criminal Case Review Commission referral.

“If it doesn’t persuade me, then I won’t waste the prison governor’s time. If I conclude that Letby is guilty, then I’m going to drop this.”

Some members of the Royal Statistical Society have expressed concerns over the use of statistics in Letby’s case to secure a conviction on the basis of probabilities.

In a letter written to the Letby Inquiry, the RSS urged the chair to “cover the appropriate use of statistical evidence in the cases of medical murder” following a 2022 report looking into issues surrounding their use.

Letby continues to maintain her innocence despite her conviction and told jurors during her trial she was “not the sort of person who would kill babies”.