DOCTOR WHO HELPED CONVICT LUCY LETBY NOW SAYS HE IS ‘NO LONGER CERTAIN’ BABIES WERE MURDERED

CHESTER, ENGLAND — A retired pediatrician whose evidence helped investigators build the case against convicted nurse Lucy Letby has now publicly acknowledged that he is no longer certain deliberate crimes were committed in the neonatal unit where seven babies died.

Dr. John Gibbs, one of the consultants whose evidence contributed to Letby’s convictions, says he now believes a retrial could be an appropriate way to resolve the continuing questions surrounding the case.

His comments represent a significant change from his earlier position, although they do not amount to a finding that Letby is innocent. Her convictions remain in force, and she is serving whole-life sentences after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others.

‘I’M NO LONGER CERTAIN’

Gibbs told The Sun that he now has a “very small concern” that there may not have been deliberate harm inflicted on the babies.

He said the central question for him has increasingly become what caused so many babies to collapse or die at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit in 2015 and 2016.

“If Lucy Letby is behind bars for crimes she had not committed,” he said, that would be an extremely serious miscarriage of justice.

Gibbs has previously appeared in the Netflix documentary examining the case. Earlier this year, he said he had worried about the possibility of having identified the wrong person, while still saying he believed Letby was responsible.

His latest comments go further, with the retired doctor now supporting consideration of a new trial.

A RETRIAL COULD CHANGE THE CASE — BUT LETBY REMAINS CONVICTED

Letby, now 36, was convicted at Manchester Crown Court in 2023 of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others.

In a second trial in 2024, she was convicted of another attempted murder charge involving a baby known as Baby K.

She received whole-life orders and has repeatedly denied murdering or attempting to murder the babies.

Her legal team has been seeking to have the convictions reconsidered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body responsible for investigating potential miscarriages of justice in England and Wales.

The CCRC has been examining new material submitted on Letby’s behalf, including evidence from international medical and scientific experts.

That process has not resulted in her convictions being overturned.

THE THIRLWALL INQUIRY ADDED NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HOSPITAL

The latest developments come shortly after publication of the Thirlwall Inquiry report, a government-commissioned investigation into what happened at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The inquiry was not a retrial of Letby. Instead, it examined the hospital’s management, clinical governance and response to concerns about the deaths and collapses.

Its report, published September 15, 2026, described dysfunctional management and governance, a divide between hospital leadership and clinicians, and failures to understand basic safeguarding responsibilities.

The inquiry concluded that once doctors suspected deliberate harm might be occurring, safeguarding procedures should have been activated.

It also examined Gibbs’ own concerns during the period when suspicion surrounding Letby was developing.

According to the inquiry’s findings, Gibbs acknowledged that his suspicions had begun to form by April 2016 and that he believed Letby might pose a danger. He also expressed regret that he and colleagues did not go directly to police at that stage.

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE REMAINS A MAJOR BATTLEGROUND

Questions surrounding the medical evidence have become central to Letby’s continuing legal challenge.

Some experts have argued that alternative medical explanations could account for some of the babies’ collapses and deaths.

At the same time, other experts continue to defend the medical evidence presented during the trials.

In September, two experts who had previously contributed to Letby’s defense effort withdrew from the team, saying they could not support some arguments being advanced because they believed those claims were inconsistent with available evidence and established physiology.

Letby’s barrister, Mark McDonald, has argued that other independent experts have identified serious problems with the scientific evidence used to support some of the convictions.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Dr. Gibbs’ change of position does not automatically trigger a retrial.

Any decision to reopen the case would ultimately depend on the legal process and the evidence considered by the appropriate authorities.

For now, Letby’s convictions remain legally valid.

But Gibbs’ latest comments add another prominent voice to the debate over the medical evidence and the circumstances surrounding the deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The case now sits at an unusual intersection: a convicted nurse serving whole-life sentences, a public inquiry documenting serious failures inside the hospital, and a former prosecution witness publicly acknowledging that he is no longer completely certain about what happened.

For the families of the babies involved, the continuing dispute over the evidence comes with an enormous human cost.

And for Dr. Gibbs, who once helped investigators make the case against Letby, his public reassessment has reopened a question he believed had already been answered.