Lucy Letby maintains innocence over baby murders, panel told

Child serial killer Lucy Letby does not oppose a bid to strike her off the nursing register but maintains her innocence, a panel has been told.

The 33-year-old was found guilty in August of murdering seven babies and trying to murder six others.

A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing was told she had stated in a "tick-box exercise" that she accepted the organisation's charges against her.

However, she added that she did not accept she was "guilty" of them.

Letby, who committed her crimes while working as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016, was sentenced to 14 whole-life orders following her conviction.

At a fitness to practice hearing in east London on Tuesday, the NMC's representative Christopher Scott told a panel that the charges brought by the body against Letby reflected her criminal convictions.

He said it was "a matter of legal fact" that she was convicted of seven counts of murder and six of attempted murder.

The panel was told she had been in asked in a "tick-box exercise" if she accepted the NMC charges.

She ticked "yes" to each of the charges, but added: "I do not wish to take part or be present at the hearing."

"I do not resist the application to strike me off the nursing register," she stated.

"I accept the fact of the convictions.

"However, I do not accept that I am guilty of any of the allegations."

The panel was told she also stated that she maintained her "innocence in respect of all of the convictions", adding: "These convictions are now the subject of an appeal."

Mr Scott said he would be seeking to have the panel, which decided to proceed in Letby's absence, strike her off the nursing register.

It will deliver its decision later.

Letby, originally of Hereford, is due to face a retrial over one count of attempted murder in June 2024.

Given the gravity of her offences, and the fact she will never leave prison, Lucy Letby's barring from the nursing profession may have seemed like a foregone conclusion.

But the NMC's fitness to practice panel allotted two days for the hearing to determine her professional future.

In the event, the formalities have moved along quickly and having refused to appear at her crown court sentencing, it was hardly a surprise that Letby also declined to appear at the NMC.

Instead, she filled out the paperwork from her prison cell, accepting the proposal to strike her off the nursing register.

She then added the first comments she has made anywhere about her case - writing that she does not accept her guilt, maintains her innocence, and is appealing her convictions.

Clearly, her focus is on the Court of Appeal, which is still considering her case.

She will also have to prepare for the retrial on one charge of attempted murder which is expected in June.

This is not the last we will hear about Lucy Letby.