Inquests into the deaths of five babies Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering are set to open today.
Proceedings at Cheshire Coroner’s Court will concern babies C, E, I, O and P, who all died at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016 when Letby was employed as a nurse in the neonatal unit.
Jacqueline Devonish, senior coroner for Cheshire, is expected to open, adjourn and then suspend the hearings until later this year.
Dates for the full inquests – should it reach that stage – have been provisionally set for September, pending the outcome of the Thirlwall Inquiry report, which is examining how Letby was able to commit her crimes and is due to be published after Easter.
Letby, 36, was sentenced to 15 whole-life terms for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.
An inquest into the death of Baby A, held in October 2016, concluded that it could not be determined what caused the infant’s death.
In January 2016, an inquest into the death of Baby D was opened but later suspended once criminal proceedings got under way.
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Last month, the Crown Prosecution Service announced Letby will not face criminal charges in relation to further allegations of deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies.
Cheshire Constabulary had submitted evidence relating to alleged offences of murder and attempted murder of two infants who died and seven who survived.
However, prosecutors said the extra information it had received from police had not met “the evidential test”.
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Letby, who has always maintained her innocence, lost two bids last year to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal.
A group of campaigners have been backing the former nurse and have submitted reports to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in an attempt to overturn her convictions.
