Lucy Letby has replaced her legal team, her new barrister told the BBC last night.
The former neo-natal nurse is currently serving a whole life sentence, with no prospect of parole, after being convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murder of seven others at the Countess of Chester Hospital, following two separate trials.
She has also made two applications to appeal which have been refused. Her barrister throughout the trials and appeals was Ben Myers KC.
But Mark McDonald, a specialist barrister in appeals and miscarriages of justice, told the BBC’s File on 4 that he was now representing the serial killer.
He said he plans to take her case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), to apply for it to be sent back to the Court of Appeal.
For that to happen, Mr McDonald will need to secure fresh evidence and persuade the CCRC that such evidence undermines the safety of her convictions.
‘I knew almost from the start, following this trial, that there is a strong case that she is innocent,’ he said.
‘The fact is juries get it wrong. And yes, so do the Court of Appeal, history teaches us that.’
Mr McDonald has previously been involved in several high-profile appeals, including that if Ben Geen, another nurse jailed for life in 2006 for murdering two of his patients and poisoning 15 others.
Geen’s application to appeal his convictions was denied by the Court of Appeal in 2009 and two further applications to the CCRC, in 2013 and 2015, also refused.
Mr McDonald has spoken at length about his fears Letby’s conviction is a miscarriage of justice on social media and in interviews published online following her convictions in August last year.
Last night he posted on X: ‘The day after Lucy was convicted I raised concerns. I was attacked for speaking out even reported to my professional body. There are many hurdles to overcome in coming years but one day justice will be done and those wrongly convicted will be freed.’