The Crown Prosecution Service has announced that there will be no criminal charges against Lucy Letby in relation to further allegations of deaths of babies. The CPS has decided that the evidential test has not been met in relation to a file of evidence sent from Cheshire constabulary in July last year relating to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

Cheshire Constabulary yesterday, issued a press release expressing surprise at the decision: ‘This is not the outcome that we had anticipated throughout our investigation; we were confident that we held enough evidence to take to the CPS.’ The statement went on to say that the police ‘believed evidence submitted met the CPS charging standard. The CPS did not agree and despite our representations, we must respect the decision that has been made.’ ‘There will be some who feel that this is news worth celebrating,’ it added. ‘We do not share this view and would ask that people respect the privacy end of the families involved.’

Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS’s  special crime and counter terrorism division, said: ‘Following a thorough review of that evidence, we have decided that no criminal charges should be brought in respect of those further allegations. The CPS considered offences of murder and attempted murder in respect of two infants who died and attempted murder in respect of seven infants who survived. We concluded that the evidential test was not met in any of those cases.’

Letby’s barrister Mark Macdonald said that his client ‘has always maintained her innocence – she has never hurt a child and never would. It is vital that the case is now referred back to the Court of Appeal as a matter of urgency. Thirty-one reports have been submitted to the CCRC, compiled by 26 internationally renowned experts, which provide overwhelming evidence that no babies were murdered. The reality is that a young innocent woman is imprisoned for crimes she has not committed.’