"The case has captured the public imagination in Britain for a variety of reasons. There is the maximally emotive nature of Letby's supposed crimes. The potential murder of multiple tiny babies by a person who was tasked with their care is chilling. There is also Letby's superficial appearance as an unremarkable young woman, someone who didn't fit the stereotypical image people might have in their minds of a cold-blooded killer of children."
"In the time since Letby's initial conviction in 2023, several international medical experts have come forward to say that there was "no medical evidence" that Letby murdered the babies, by supposed injection of insulin or air embolisms, prompting a significant muddying of the waters of public opinion about the case. Only last week, a headline in the Sun, which previously ran stories about Letby under headers like "Poison Nurse Killed 7 Babies," from last week, reads "Letby: The greatest miscarriage of justice this century," quoting a retired police detective who has been reviewing the files."
In 2015 and 2016, an unusually large number of babies died in a neonatal unit in northern England. A young nurse, Lucy Letby, faced two trials — one lasting ten months across 2022–23 and another concluding in July 2024 — and was convicted of murdering or attempting to murder several infants. The case provoked strong public emotion because of the victims' ages, the caregiver role of the accused, and her unremarkable appearance. After conviction, several international medical experts stated there was "no medical evidence" of murder by insulin injection or air embolism, fueling controversy. Tabloid headlines and a high-profile newspaper front page calling the verdict a "miscarriage of justice" intensified public debate, and a Netflix documentary followed.
Read at Slate Magazine
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