The judge leading the Thirlwall inquiry into how babies were murdered at the Countess of Chester Hospital has been criticised for calling those questioning Lucy Letby’s convictions ‘uninformed’.

Lady Justice Thirlwall said in her opening remarks: ‘All of this noise has caused additional enormous stress for the parents [of the babies], who have suffered far too much. It’s not for me to set about reviewing the convictions. The court of appeal has done that with a very clear result. The convictions stand.’

Dr Michael Hall, who is a retired consultant neonatologist and advised Letby’s legal defence team, wrote to the inquiry stating that ‘important elements’ of the medical evidence presented by the prosecution were ‘flawed or misleading’. He doesn’t believe that Letby received a fair trial.

He has also reiterated that he was present at the trial, bar a couple of days, and is concerned by the safety of the conviction based on the evidence that was presented to the jury by the prosecution. He himself was not called to give expert evidence for the defence – a move that has been roundly criticised.

On Thursday Richard Baker KC, speaking on behalf of the families whose babies were harmed, spoke of the ‘ghoulish sideshow’ of those discussing the safety of the case against Letby.

He added: ‘Everybody who recklessly promotes conspiracy theories, or who parrots without questioning the same tired misconceptions about this case, should be ashamed of themselves.’

Baker also used his opening statement to present the findings of an audit conducted at Liverpool Women’s Hospital while Letby was working there as a trainee nurse. The audit found that breathing tubes became dislodged during 40% of the shifts Letby worked, despite this usually happening on less than 1% of shifts.

Critics of the format of the inquiry have said that it presents an opportunity for Letby to be ‘retried’ but without any chance to defend herself from any further allegations that arise.