An independent review has upheld the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision not to bring further charges against convicted killer nurse Lucy Letby, after the families of six more babies sought to challenge the ruling under the Victims’ Right to Review scheme, though her case remains at the centre of an ongoing miscarriage of justice campaign.
Convicted nurse Lucy Letby will not face any further criminal charges, after an independent review upheld the Crown Prosecution Service’s earlier decision not to prosecute her over additional allegations involving nine children, six of whom were the subject of a subsequent challenge by their families. Letby is currently serving 15 whole-life orders for murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven more at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016, but her case continues to sit at the centre of a high-profile campaign questioning whether her convictions are safe.
The latest ruling
Malcolm McHaffie, head of the CPS’s special crime division, confirmed that in January 2026, after reviewing a file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary, prosecutors decided that “no further criminal charges should be brought against Lucy Letby,” in relation to further deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital. Following that decision, the CPS received requests relating to six of the infants involved for the matter to be reconsidered under the Victims’ Right to Review scheme. McHaffie said an extensive review, carried out by a prosecutor with no involvement in the original decisions and involving a re-examination of substantial evidence and material, has now been completed. Six potential offences of attempted murder were reconsidered in relation to the six babies, but McHaffie confirmed “the review upheld the original decision not to bring any further criminal charges.” The CPS has written to the families involved and said it would offer meetings to answer any further questions, adding, “our thoughts remain with them.”
How the review process works
The Victims’ Right to Review scheme allows victims, or in some cases their families, to ask the CPS to reconsider a decision not to bring charges or to discontinue a prosecution. Reviews under the scheme are carried out by a prosecutor who had no involvement in the original decision, providing an independent reassessment of the available evidence. Before authorising any criminal charge, CPS prosecutors must apply what is known as the Full Code Test, which requires both a realistic prospect of conviction based on the evidence and confirmation that bringing a prosecution would be in the public interest.
Letby’s existing convictions
Letby, now 36, was convicted following two separate trials at Manchester Crown Court, with the first concluding in 2023 and a retrial on one count of attempted murder ending in 2024. She is serving 15 whole-life orders, the most severe sentence available in England and Wales, meaning she will spend the rest of her life in prison unless her sentence is exceptionally reduced on compassionate grounds. The CPS has confirmed that its latest decision not to bring further charges has no bearing on Letby’s existing convictions or sentence, both of which remain in force.
Where the latest allegations came from
The additional allegations reviewed related to six further infant collapses, some fatal, at the Countess of Chester Hospital and at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where Letby had previously worked as a neonatal nurse. The CPS first disclosed in November 2024 that it was considering further charges against her. In January, prosecutors ruled that no new charges would be brought over potential offences of attempted murder and murder involving nine children in total, including two who died, concluding that the evidential test required for prosecution had not been met.
A continuing controversy
Letby’s case remains central to a wider, high-profile campaign questioning whether her convictions are safe. Since she was sentenced, a number of medical experts, statisticians and legal academics have raised concerns about aspects of the evidence presented at her original trial, including how medical findings and statistical evidence were interpreted, with a growing number of voices suggesting her convictions may be unsafe and that she could have been the victim of a miscarriage of justice. The CPS and Cheshire Constabulary, for their part, have consistently maintained that they remain confident in the convictions secured against her.
What could happen next
Any formal challenge to Letby’s existing convictions would need to proceed through the Court of Appeal or another lawful review process; the CPS’s decision on these additional allegations does not itself determine the validity of her existing convictions. The Criminal Cases Review Commission, the independent body responsible for investigating potential miscarriages of justice across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has the power to refer a conviction back to the Court of Appeal if it identifies a real possibility that it is unsafe. Separately, under UK law prosecutors retain the ability to reconsider bringing charges in future should significant new evidence emerge, even after a previous decision not to prosecute, provided the relevant legal tests continue to be met.
