Lucy Letby Hospital gives 15 reasons why ‘baby killer’ was innocent

A document published this week following an investigation by Stephen Cross, the hospital’s director of corporate and legal affairs, also shows that the Countess of Chester was reluctant to contact police in 2017.

“In our opinion, there is no evidence justifying the initiation of an investigation,” he wrote. “However, in the spirit of openness and transparency, the matter is being reported to the police, given that many consultant pediatricians are not satisfied with the very thorough investigations and reviews.

“Twelve deaths were autopsied, but no suspicious findings were found.

“A secondary analysis of the four deaths by pathologists at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital did not raise any concerns regarding unnatural causes of death.”

This week Dr Stephen Brearey, a pediatric consultant at the hospital, gave evidence at the inquiry and was asked about Ms Powell’s list of reasons. Dr Brearey was one of the first doctors to raise concerns about Letby and call for her removal from the department.