Letby expert witness Dr Dewi Evans denies ‘changed mind’ claim

An expert witness has described criticisms of his evidence by Lucy Letby’s lawyers as “unsubstantiated, unfounded, inaccurate”.

On Monday, the former neonatal nurse’s legal team revealed they would ask the Court of Appeal to immediately review all of her convictions.

They alleged lead prosecution expert Dr Dewi Evans had altered his view about how three babies died at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.

In a statement, Mr Evans said he had neither received any formal notification of the announcement nor any correspondence from Letby’s barrister Mark McDonald or his team.

Letby is serving 15 whole-life jail terms for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.

Mr McDonald told a news conference in London on Monday that Dr Evans had altered his view about how babies had died.

He said: “Remarkably, Dr Evans has now changed his mind on the cause of death of three of the babies: Baby C, Baby I and Baby P.

The barrister added: “Dr Evans had said to the jury that Lucy Letby had injected air down a nasal gastric tube and this had led to the death of the three babies.

“This was repeated to the Court of Appeal, who may have been misled when they ruled on the application for leave against the convictions.”

He said Dr Evans had “revised his opinion in relation to Baby C” and had written a new report which he had given to police months ago.

But, he said “despite numerous requests” the prosecution had “yet to give this report to the defence”.

“The defence will argue that Dr Evans is not a reliable expert, and all the convictions are not safe,” Mr McDonald said.

Letby was convicted in August 2023 and has twice been refused permission to appeal against her convictions.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the court had previously rejected Letby’s argument that expert witness evidence presented by the prosecution had been “flawed”.

Dr Evans said: “The only place appropriate to deal with any potential appeal is the relevant court.

“If required I would be pleased to give evidence in the usual way; on oath, subject to cross examination, and where my evidence is placed in the public domain.”

Dr Evans highlighted notes in a report from the three Appeal Court judges.

“They were supportive of my evidence,” he said. “They supported the verdict of the Manchester trial unreservedly.

“I am not in receipt of any information that indicates that the Appeal Court judges were mistaken.”

He added he was “mindful” of two ongoing events.

Firstly, the Thirlwall Inquiry, which is examining the circumstances surrounding Letby’s crimes.

Hearings in Liverpool will resume in January, with the public inquiry’s findings expected in the autumn of 2025.

Secondly, Cheshire Police revealed earlier this month that detectives had interviewed Letby under caution in prison as part of its investigation into more baby deaths.

Dr Evans said: “I believe we owe it to them also to complete their investigation without any distractions.”

In response to Dr Evans’s statement, Mr McDonald said: “Dr Evans has written a new report on Baby C, 12 months after Lucy Letby was convicted, please can this be disclosed to the defence?

“This issue of reliability of any prosecution medical expert is now a matter for the Court of Appeal and Criminal Cases Review Commissions but certainly the disclosure of this new report may help them in deciding this question.”