A public inquiry’s final report into how former nurse Lucy Letby was able to commit her crimes will now be published early next year.
Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester.
She is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court.
Letby is Britain’s most prolific serial child killer of modern times and her case prompted the government to order an inquiry into how the killings went undetected.
The inquiry is also examining the hospital’s response to concerns raised about Letby before her arrest.
The report was previously expected to be released this November.
A statement published on Thursday on the inquiry’s website said it has written to “core participants” with an update on the progress of the final report.
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Lady Justice Thirlwall, the chair of the inquiry, is now expected to send out “warning letters” from September 2025, with the final report published in early 2026.
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Warning letters are sent ahead of an inquiry being published to anyone “who may be subject to significant or explicit criticism in an inquiry report”, according to the website.
“This must be done in advance of the inquiry’s report being published and allow a reasonable opportunity to respond,” it said.
Prominent figures like senior Conservative MP David Davis have called for a retrial in Letby’s case, saying her conviction was “built on a poor understanding of probabilities” and lacked “hard evidence”.
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In February, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths.
Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby’s legal team hopes her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal.
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In March, Letby asked for the Thirlwall Inquiry to be suspended while she attempted to appeal her case but that request was denied.
