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Was There Ever A Crime? The Trials of Lucy Letby with John Sweeney


Welcome to our new podcast series, 'Was There Ever A Crime: The Trials of Lucy Letby'. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Lucy Letby is Britain's worst female serial killer in modern times. Or is she? On the day she was first convicted, veteran journalist John Sweeney tweeted: "Lucy Letby may well be the victim of a miscarriage of justice, that the Crown has taken a cluster of accidental and natural deaths and pointed the finger at Letby. There is no compelling evidence of a single murder. The law, sometimes, gets it wrong." In a forensic six-part podcast series, Sweeney, who helped free cot death mum Sally Clark in 2003, and investigative writer Edward Abel Smith address the elephant in the courtroom: was there ever a crime? The Crown's version is that there is compelling medical evidence, a confession and a spreadsheet proving she is the only common denominator when death happens on her watch, time and again. Lock her up and throw away the key. That's exactly what the trial judge did. Judge Goss told the court: "There was a deep malevolence bordering on sadism in your actions… you will spend the rest of your life in prison." The parents of those poor babies who died at the Countess of Chester Hospital have been going through hell, with every detail of their child's death being laid out in front of them. Nothing should take away from their tragedy or grief. But it is important in a country where we pride ourselves on our legal system that Lucy's case is properly scrutinised. If you fear that Lucy Letby has been the victim of a miscarriage of justice, please contribute to our crowdfunder. Twitter/X: @johnsweeneyroar / @edwardabelsmith

Nov 11, 2024

In this episode hosts John Sweeney and Ed Abel Smith ask critical questions of the Cheshire Police investigation into the state of the neonatal clinic at the Countess of Chester Hospital: why did the coppers plump for the conclusion of a serial killer at large? Why did they hire, then fire a professor of statistics and not tell the defence? And did the police understand the complex medical reality, that the unit was looking after very sick premature babies, some of which had every chance of dying naturally?

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