Letby retrial was prejudiced, Court of Appeal told

Convicted babe slayer Lucy Letby’s caller retrial for the attempted execution of a babe miss should not person gone up owed to "prejudice" caused by sum of her archetypal trial, the Court of Appeal has heard.

The 34-year-old erstwhile caregiver is seeking support to situation her tribunal condemnation this July for trying to termination the newborn girl, known arsenic Baby K.

Prior to the retrial, she had already been jailed for murdering 7 babies and attempting to execution six others astatine the Countess of Chester Hospital betwixt 2015 and 2016.

Benjamin Myers KC, defending, told the tribunal her archetypal proceedings successful 2023 covered an “exceptional lawsuit with exceptional media interest”, which could pb to “exceptional unfairness”.

"We are dealing with the interaction of media sum and nationalist remark arising from the archetypal trial, upon the second," helium added.

He said the attempted execution complaint should person "stayed arsenic an maltreatment of process", which means the prosecution should person stopped, owed to "overwhelming and irremediable prejudice" aft the archetypal trial.

Mr Myers KC said "media sum pursuing proceedings one, peculiarly successful the contiguous aftermath", included "emotive nationalist remark by constabulary officers successful complaint of the investigation", which could prejudice imaginable jurors portion a retrial implicit Baby K’s lawsuit was inactive nether consideration.

Nick Johnson KC from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which opposes the entreaty bid, stated successful written submissions that it was "misguided" and the assemblage had recovered Letby to beryllium a "multiple slayer and habitual liar".

"The exertion appears to trust connected the immense measurement of publicity arsenic being of itself capable grounds connected which to basal an exertion to enactment the indictment," helium said.

"It besides leans heavy connected the proposition that it is incorrect for a witnesser to talk to the quality media and that information successful itself taints the prosecution to the grade that it should beryllium stayed.”

Three elder judges volition determine whether the erstwhile nurse's lawsuit tin proceed to a afloat entreaty pursuing Thursday's hearing.

Letby, formerly of Hereford, watched the proceeding via a video nexus from HMP Bronzefield.

In 2023, she was jailed for murdering 7 babies and trying to termination six others astatine the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit.

The assemblage was incapable to scope a verdict successful the lawsuit of Baby K, but the retrial assemblage took three-and-a-half hours to convict her successful July astatine Manchester Crown Court.

Jurors were told she targeted the "very premature" babe by dislodging her breathing conduit aft the babe was moved from the transportation country to the intensive attraction portion during a displacement successful the aboriginal hours of 17 February 2016.

At the sentencing for the crime, Letby claimed to the judge: "I'm innocent."

A abstracted nationalist enquiry into the events astatine the infirmary betwixt 2015 and 2016 is being held astatine Liverpool Town Hall.