Inquests into the deaths of babies murdered by Lucy Letby to open next month

Investigations into the deaths of babies killed by child serial killer Lucy Letby will begin within two weeks.

The 36-year-old former neonatal nurse was sentenced to 15 life sentences after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill a further seven – one of whom she assaulted twice – at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

Today Cheshire Coroner’s Court said inquests into the deaths of the Letby victims will be opened on February 4, in some cases more than a decade after the babies’ deaths.

The news emerged after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed Letby would not face any new charges over allegations of murder and attempted murder of nine children at Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

The court did not say how many inquests would be held, but in a statement it simply said: ‘Inquests into the multiple infant deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015/2016 and in connection with the criminal proceedings that resulted in the conviction of Lucy Letby will be opened at Cheshire Coroner’s Court on 4 February 2026 at 10.30am.’

Letby was found guilty of murdering seven children, but the eighth child, a very premature girl known as Baby K, also died.

Letby was initially charged with murder, but that charge was later dropped by prosecutors and he was eventually convicted of the attempted murder of Baby K.

For legal reasons, none of the babies can be named and the coroner’s court added that reporting restrictions will remain in place during hearings to protect the identities of the babies and their families.

The statement added: ‘Given the existing lifetime injunction orders, the pre-inquest review hearing will be closed to the public, including the press.’

The Women’s and Children’s building at the Countess of Chester’s Hospital, where the neonatal unit was located where Letby committed his crimes

Cheshire Police gave evidence to the CPS last July to consider 11 allegations against nine children, including two counts of murder and nine counts of attempted murder.

Detectives have spent the last two-and-a-half years since Letby’s conviction at Manchester Crown Court investigating all 4,000 babies she cared for during her four-year nursing career, including training placements she undertook at a Liverpool hospital in 2012 and 2015.

But on Tuesday the CPS said the evidentiary threshold to charge Letby with these new offenses had not been met.

Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS’s Special Crime and Counter-Terrorism Section, said: ‘In July 2025 we received a dossier of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary asking us to consider further allegations against Lucy Letby, 36, relating to deaths and non-fatal baby collapses at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

‘Following a thorough review of this evidence, we have determined that no criminal charges should be brought in relation to these further allegations.

‘We conclude that the evidentiary test was not met in any of these cases.

‘As always, this decision was made independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal tests.

‘CPS has written to the families concerned and will be holding meetings to explain our decision-making process in more detail. Our thoughts remain with them.’

In response, Cheshire Police said they disagreed with the CPS’s decision and that it was ‘not the outcome we expected’.

Strongly worded statements added: ‘We were confident we had sufficient evidence to take it to the CPS.

‘We believed that the evidence submitted met the CPS charging standard. The CPS disagreed and despite our representations we must respect the decision.’

Letby, from Hereford, has always maintained his innocence but two applications to challenge his convictions have already been rejected by the Court of Appeal.

His new legal team has submitted 31 new expert medical reports to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body that investigates possible miscarriages of justice, in the hope that his case will be reviewed for a third time and he will be released.