Former health secretary apologises to families of Lucy Letby's victims

Jeremy Hunt has apologised to the families of the victims of serial child killer Lucy Letby, saying he was sorry "for anything that didn't happen that could potentially have prevented such an appalling crime".

Mr Hunt was health secretary at the time the former nurse murdered seven babies and tried to murder seven others at the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit in 2015 and 2016.

The MP and former chancellor told the Thirlwall Inquiry Letby's crimes "happened on my watch" and "although you don't have direct responsibility… you do have ultimate responsibility".

The inquiry is examining how Letby was able to carry out her crimes and the conduct of others at the hospital and the culture in the wider NHS.

Letby, from Hereford, the UK's most prolific child killer of modern times, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court in 2023.

The 33-year-old killed her victims by injecting the infants with insulin or air or force-feeding them with milk.

Last year, she lost two bids to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal - in May for seven murders and seven attempted murders, and in October for the attempted murder of a baby girl which she was convicted of by a different jury at a retrial.

In December, lawyers for Letby said they would make a fresh bid to challenge them on the grounds that the lead prosecution medical expert at her trial was "not reliable".

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