8 hours ago
1 
AFTER Lucy Letby’s innocence claims, the creator of a BBC series has axed plans for a drama inspired by the court case.
Acclaimed Line of Duty producer Jed Mercurio was thought to be working on a show inspired by the nurse’s case alongside the only medical witness directly linking Letby to the deaths.
PASince September the Thirlwall Inquiry has been examining how the former neonatal nurse was able to murder or attack 14 babies[/caption]
AFPLucy Letby being arrested at home in Chester on July 3, 2018[/caption]
GettyCheshire Police investigated the deaths of 17 newborns at the neonatal unit[/caption]
AlamySupporters of ex-nurse Lucy Letby demonstrated outside the High Court in London during her appeal hearing][/caption]
Dr Ravi Jayaram was reportedly involved in developing the drama before it was shelved.
A newly-unearthed email has raised concerns after the prosecution claimed that Letby has been caught “red-handed” by the whistle blower.
The production company behind the proposed project has since taken action by pausing work on the show as doubt grows over her conviction, a source told MailOnline.
Former neonatal nurse Letby, now 34, was jailed for life last year for murdering seven infants and attempting to murder six others between 2015 and 2016 at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Chester.
During her ten-month trial, which ended last August when she received a whole life sentence, it was revealed she injected her victims with air or insulin, overfed them and physically abused them with medical tools.
An application to appeal against her sentence was rejected in February of this year.
She was convicted across two trials at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others.
The 35-year-old from Hereford is serving 15 whole-life orders.
She lost two attempts to challenged her convictions at the Court of Appeal last year.
The bombshell email that was recently exposed appears to cast significant doubts over the chronology of events.
It was sent on May 4 2017 and seems to be a significant boost for Letby’s attempts to overturn her convictions.
Dr Ravi Jayaram is the only hospital staff member to have claimed to see Letby act suspiciously and link her behaviour directly to babies’ deaths.
He testified that the nurse was seen standing over Baby K’s cot as the infant’s condition deteriorated.
The doctor told the court that Letby failed to call for help insisting she had virtually been caught “red handed”.
But before the official investigation, Dr Jayaram wrote to colleagues: “At time of deterioration… Staff nurse Letby at incubator and called Dra Jayaram to inform of low saturations. “
In the newly released email, Dr Jayaram also suggested Baby K’s fragile premature condition was instead the cause of death, saying: “Baby subsequently deteriorated and eventually died, but events around this would fit with explainable events associated with extreme prematurity.”
The note sees him suggest that the baby’s death was explained by issues associated with extreme prematurity.
Letby is only the fourth woman ever to be handed a whole-life sentence in the UK.
Medical experts provided case summaries on all 17 babies from the Letby trial
An international panel of medical experts has provided case summaries on all 17 babies who featured in the 10-month trial of Lucy Letby.
The 14-strong panel concluded that no criminal offences had been committed at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016 and instead provided alternative causes of deterioration:
– Baby 1 (known as Child A in the trial): The prosecution said the boy was murdered by an injection of air into the bloodstream which caused an air embolism where bubbles form and block the blood supply. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and said the child had died from thrombosis, where a blood clot forms in a vessel.
– Baby 2 (Child B): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder Child A’s twin sister by also injecting air into her bloodstream. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and said the child had collapsed from thrombosis.
– Baby 3 (Child C): The prosecution said the boy was murdered with air forced down his feeding tube and into his stomach. The panel said the child died following ineffective resuscitation from a collapse after an “acute small bowel obstruction” that went unrecognised.
– Baby 4 (Child D): The prosecution said the girl was murdered by an injection of air into the bloodstream. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and ruled the child died of systemic sepsis, pneumonia and disseminated intravascular coagulation (blood clotting). Issues with failures to give relevant antibiotics were also identified.
– Baby 5 (Child E): The Crown said Letby murdered the twin boy with an injection of air into the bloodstream and she also deliberately caused bleeding to the infant. The panel said there was no evidence of air embolism and bleeding was caused either by a lack of oxygen pre-birth or a congenital blood vessel condition.
– Baby 6 (Child F): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder Child E’s twin brother by administering insulin. The panel ruled that the child’s insulin levels and insulin/C-peptide ratio did not prove that exogenous insulin was used and were within the norm for pre-term infants. It added that there was poor medical management of the child’s prolonged hypoglycaemia.
– Baby 7 (Child G): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder the girl by overfeeding her with milk and forcing air down her feeding tube. The panel said there was no evidence to support air injection into the stomach or overfeeding. The infant’s vomiting and clinical deterioration was due to infection, it found.
– Baby 8 (Child H): Jurors cleared Letby of one count of attempted murder and failed to reach a verdict on a second count. Prosecutors said the nurse sabotaged the girl’s care in some way which led to two profound oxygen desaturations. The panel said the deteriorations were due to medical mismanagement of a tension pneumothorax where air is trapped between the lung and chest wall.
– Baby 9 (Child I): The prosecution said Letby murdered the infant by injecting air into her bloodstream and stomach. The panel said it found no evidence of air injections and that the baby died of breathing complications caused by respiratory distress syndrome and chronic lung disease.
– Baby 10 (Child J): Jurors could not reach a verdict on an allegation of attempted murder. No specific form of harm was identified by the prosecution but they said Letby did something to cause the collapse of the girl. The panel said the deterioration was caused by sepsis and there was no evidence to support malicious airway obstruction.
– Baby 11 (Child K): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder the girl by deliberately dislodging her breathing tube. Among its findings the panel said there was no evidence to support a dislodged endotracheal tube (ETT) and the clinical deterioration was caused by use of an undersized ETT.
– Baby 12 (Child L): The Crown said the nurse poisoned the boy with insulin. The panel said the infant’s insulin-related levels were within the norm for pre-term infants and there was no evidence of deliberate administration.
– Baby 13 (Child M): Prosecutors said Letby attempted to murder Child L’s twin brother by injecting air into his bloodstream. The panel said there was no evidence of air embolism and his collapse was caused by sepsis or a heart problem.
– Baby 14 (Child N): The Crown said the boy was the victim of attempted murder by inflicted trauma in his throat and an air injection into his bloodstream. The panel said there was no air embolism and it was likely his blood oxygen levels dropped due to his haemophilia condition or routine cares, which was “exacerbated” by repeated attempts to insert a breathing tube.
– Baby 15 (Child O): The prosecution said Letby murdered the triplet boy by injecting air into his bloodstream and inflicting trauma to his liver. The panel said he died from liver damage caused by traumatic delivery, resulting in bleeding in the abdomen and profound shock.
– Baby 16 (Child P): Prosecutors said Letby murdered Child O’s brother by injecting him with air. The panel said there was no evidence to support that mechanism and that he died from a collapsed lung that was “suboptimally managed”.
– Baby 17 (Child Q): Jurors could not reach a verdict on an allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby attempted to murder the boy by injecting liquid, and possibly air, down his feeding tube. The panel said there was no evidence to support air injection into the stomach and the child deteriorated because he had early symptoms of a serious gastrointestinal problem, or sepsis.
Jed is best known for making high-octane cop thrillers, including BBC1’s Line of Duty and Bodyguard — two of the most-watched dramas in TV history.
Recently he has turned his hand to more true crime and health-based drama, such as the ITV show Breathtaking, which was set during the Covid crisis.
Starring Downton Abbey actress Joanne Froggatt, it was based on medic Rachel Clarke’s personal account of batting on the front line in the pandemic.
Jed has a personal interest in medics as he spent three years as a hospital doctor, with his experiences partly inspiring his first drama, BBC1’s Cardiac Arrest, which aired from 1994 to 1996.
Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner and Killing Eve leading lady Jodie Comer were thought to be among a handful of top actresses in the frame to take on the extremely challenging role before the show was axed.
TV insider previously said: “Jed sees this as an important story that should not just be chronicled in a drama but also explored.
“It aims to try to explain how her crimes could have gone on for so long and how others — particularly Dr Jayaram — tried to act when suspicions were raised.
“Bagging a high-profile name to play Letby would help give the show the attention it deserves too, but it’s not a role to take lightly.”
A source at production company Hat Trick Mercurio said of the Letby drama: “It’s on our slate but we have not done much on it recently. It is more complicated than it first appeared. The situation’s evolving.”
The Sun has approached Hat Trick Productions for comment.
The charges Letby was convicted on in full
Child A, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby injected air intravenously into the bloodstream of the baby boy. COUNT 1 GUILTY.
Child B, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby attempted to murder the baby girl, the twin sister of Child A, by injecting air into her bloodstream. COUNT 2 GUILTY.
Child C, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said Letby forced air down a feeding tube and into the stomach of the baby boy. COUNT 3 GUILTY.
Child D, allegation of murder. The Crown said air was injected intravenously into the baby girl. COUNT 4 GUILTY.
Child E, allegation of murder. The Crown said Letby murdered the twin baby boy with an injection of air into the bloodstream and also deliberately caused bleeding to the infant. COUNT 5 GUILTY.
Child F, allegation of attempted murder. Letby was said by prosecutors to have poisoned the twin brother of Child E with insulin. COUNT 6 GUILTY.
Child G, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby targeted the baby girl by overfeeding her with milk and pushing air down her feeding tube. COUNT 7 GUILTY, COUNT 8 GUILTY, COUNT 9 NOT GUILTY.
Child H, two allegations of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby sabotaged the care of the baby girl in some way which led to two profound oxygen desaturations. COUNT 10 NOT GUILTY, COUNT 11 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child I, allegation of murder. The prosecution said Letby killed the baby girl at the fourth attempt and had given her air and overfed her with milk. COUNT 12 GUILTY.
Child J, allegation of attempted murder. No specific form of harm was identified by the prosecution but they said Letby did something to cause the collapse of the baby girl. COUNT 13 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child K, allegation of attempted murder. The prosecution said Letby compromised the baby girl as she deliberately dislodged a breathing tube. COUNT 14 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child L, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said the nurse poisoned the twin baby boy with insulin. COUNT 15 GUILTY.
Child M, allegation of attempted murder. Prosecutors said Letby injected air into the bloodstream of Child L’s twin brother. COUNT 16 GUILTY.
Child N, three allegations of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby inflicted trauma in the baby boy’s throat and also injected him with air in the bloodstream. COUNT 17 GUILTY, COUNT 18 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT, COUNT 19 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
Child O, allegation of murder. Prosecutors say Letby attacked the triplet boy by injecting him with air, overfeeding him with milk and inflicting trauma to his liver with “severe force”. COUNT 20 GUILTY.
Child P, allegation of murder. Prosecutors said the nurse targeted the triplet brother of Child O by overfeeding him with milk, injecting air and dislodging his breathing tube. COUNT 21 GUILTY.
Child Q, allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby injected the baby boy with liquid, and possibly air, down his feeding tube. COUNT 22 JURY COULD NOT REACH VERDICT.
ReutersLucy Letby spoke during her interrogation, in Chester[/caption]
SWNSHer parents, John, 76, and Susan, 62, watched as proceedings were relayed to annex courtrooms attended by families of the children involved and members of the press[/caption] 
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·