Lucy Letby Defence Closing Speech Revealed

Defence barrister Ben Myers KC's closing speech is examined through two lenses: the concept of 'elastic theories' and the story model of jury decision-making. Myers argued the prosecution's case was constructed so that every observation — Letby's presence or absence, her emotional reactions, her work patterns — was treated as evidence of guilt regardless of direction. The story model, drawn from Pennington and Hastie's jury research, is used to explain how jurors construct narratives rather than weigh individual facts. Myers' critique of the adversarial system is also highlighted: a system that rewards persuasive storytelling over scientific accuracy is poorly suited to evaluating complex medical evidence.