Nigel Farage believes Lucy Letby is a “very convenient scapegoat” after having increasing doubts over the former neonatal nurse’s conviction in recent months. The Reform UK leader says he’s not saying Lucy Letby “is innocent” but should be retried.
Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted across two trials at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016. Her trial at Manchester Crown Court ran for 10 months from October 2022 to August 2023, with a retrial ordered after a jury was unable to reach a verdict on one count of attempted murder of a baby girl. Last year she was found guilty of the attack on the newborn infant during a night shift in the Countess of Chester’s neonatal unit in February 2016.
Several officials have queried the initial verdict, including Mr Farage. The Reform UK leader told The Sun it is his job “to ask questions”.
He said: “And I haven’t come out unequivocally on this, but I increasingly think that the argument for a retrial is very strong.
“The argument that it should be looked at again is very strong. If you look at what’s happened with the neonatal units, not just in Chester, but we could look at East Kent, we could look at two or three others, where the rates of baby death have been too high.
“I just have this horrible feeling that she might have been a very convenient scapegoat”.