Sir David Davis criticises article about Lucy Letby being unable to be read in the UK
As published by ITV News
A Conservative former minister has criticised the fact an article about child serial killer Lucy Letby is not available to read in the UK, as he argued this is “in defiance of open justice”.
The article published in the New Yorker magazine questioned the evidence used in the trial which convicted Letby of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others.
Sir David Davis called on the Government to review the court order which blocks those in the UK from accessing the article.
The Haltemprice and Howden MP told the Commons: “Yesterday the New Yorker magazine published a 13,000-word inquiry into the Lucy Letby trial, which raised enormous concerns about both the logic and competence of the statistical evidence that was a central part of that trial.“
“That article was blocked from publication on the UK internet, I understand because of a court order.
“Now, I’m sure that court order was well intended but it seems to me in defiance of open justice.
“Will the Lord Chancellor look into this matter and report back to the House?”
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk replied: “Court orders must be obeyed and court orders can be displaced by someone applying to court for them to be removed.
“So that will need to take place in the normal course of events.“I will just simply make a point on the Lucy Letby case – that jury’s verdict must be respected.
“If there are grounds for an appeal, that should take place in the normal way.”
In August last year, Letby, of Hereford, was convicted of the murders which took place at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit, where she worked as a nurse, between June 2015 and June 2016.
The 34-year-old has submitted a bid to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal.If judges decline to give the go-ahead for the challenge, it will mark the end of the appeal process for Letby.
The jury in Letby’s trial at Manchester Crown Court was unable to reach verdicts on six counts of attempted murder in relation to five children.
She will face a retrial at the same court in June on a single count that she attempted to murder a baby girl, known as Child K, in February 2016.
A court order prohibits reporting of the identities of the surviving and dead children who were the subject of the allegations.
As published by the Guardian
The Conservative MP David Davis has used parliamentary privilege to ask why UK readers were barred from viewing an article in a prominent US magazine about the case of the former nurse Lucy Letby.
He told fellow MPs that the block on the story published in the New Yorker seemed “in defiance of open justice”.
Letby was convicted last summer of murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester hospital, where she was a neonatal nurse. She has sought leave to appeal against her convictions. She is due to be retried in June on one charge of attempted murder on which the last jury could not reach a verdict.
The New Yorker published a 13,000-word piece about her case on Monday but UK readers are blocked from accessing it online. Under English law, British media are restricted in their reporting owing to Letby’s upcoming retrial.
During justice questions in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Davis said: “That article was blocked from publication on the UK internet.” He said this seemed “in defiance of open justice”.
Davis asked the justice secretary, Alex Chalk, to review the reporting restrictions. “Will the lord chancellor look into this matter and report back to the house?” he said.
Chalk replied that court orders must be obeyed but could be displaced by someone applying for them to be removed. “So that will need to take place in the normal course of events. I will just simply make a point on the Lucy Letby case – that the jury’s verdict must be respected. If there are grounds for an appeal, that should take place in the normal way.”
Letby was sentenced to 14 whole-life orders for the murder of seven babies and attempted murder of six other babies between June 2015 and June 2016.