Interview With Prof. Chris Fitzpatrick On Lucy Letby

Professor Chris Fitzpatrick, an experienced Irish obstetrician and former master of a major Dublin maternity hospital, calls the Letby conviction a gross miscarriage of justice and focuses on the complete absence of obstetric input throughout the investigation and trial. He argues that many of the deaths attributed to Letby had obstetric explanations — complications of premature labour, delivery trauma and inadequate antenatal management — that were never put before the jury. He gives the specific example of Baby D, arguing that the failure to administer antibiotics in time was the cause of that infant's deterioration. He discusses subcapsular haematoma of the liver, a known consequence of traumatic delivery, and argues this was present in at least one case but not explored. He is strongly critical of the judge's direction to the jury that they did not need to identify a precise mechanism of harm, calling it a troubling departure from basic standards of criminal proof.