Child G
The prosecution’s theory: Deliberate over-feeding causing aspiration.
Outcome: Survived with severe disabilities
Gestation: 23+6 weeks, 535 g, female
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Prosecution theory
Deliberate over-feeding causing aspiration.
Method alleged: Excessive feed volume via NG tube causing aspiration and collapse.
Prosecution experts: Dr Dewi Evans; Dr Sandie Bohin.
Panel view (Feb 2025)
Panel: vomiting and clinical deterioration due to infection, possibly enterovirus. No evidence to support air injection into the stomach or overfeeding.
Pathology
No fatal outcome — she recovered and was discharged home. Panel conclusion: Baby 7 had vomiting and clinical deterioration due to infection, possibly enterovirus; there is no evidence to support air injection into the stomach or overfeeding. Her CRP rose to 218 over the following days, and blood, urine, cerebrospinal-fluid and respiratory cultures were all negative — a picture the Panel says fits enterovirus. The large watery stools are not consistent with overfeeding. Critically, the abdominal X-rays showing gaseous distension of the intestines were all taken after bag-and-mask ventilation, and are consistent with air introduced by bagging in a sick infant with ileus. The blood-stained fluid in the trachea is most likely trauma from intubation.
Natural-cause alternatives identified
- Infection, possibly enterovirus — the Panel's stated cause (CRP rising to 218 with negative bacterial cultures)
- Ileus in a sick infant explaining abdominal distension and discolouration
- Air introduced by bag-and-mask ventilation explaining the gaseous distension on X-ray
- Intubation trauma explaining the blood-stained tracheal fluid
What the jury did not hear
- The Panel's conclusion that the deterioration was caused by infection, possibly enterovirus.
- That the abdominal X-rays showing gaseous distension were all taken AFTER bag-and-mask ventilation.
- That large watery stools are not consistent with overfeeding.
- That a CRP of 218 with negative bacterial cultures fits a self-limiting viral infection — she recovered after seven days.
Key primary sources
- International Expert Panel — Summary Report (February 2025), Panel Baby 7: https://lucyletbyinnocence.com/shoo-lee/International%20Expert%20Panel%20-%20Summary%20Report.pdf
- R v Letby sentencing remarks (August 2023)
Read the full long-form analysis →
Sources:
- Court of Appeal judgment (May 2024) and sentencing remarks — judiciary.uk
- Shoo Lee International Expert Panel Report (February 2025) — lucyletbyinnocence.com
- Per-baby trial evidence archive — lucyletbyinnocence.com
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