Lucy Letby will face no further charges over baby deaths and collapses at two hospitals after prosecutors upheld their original decision on Wednesday, 5 August 2026, following a challenge by six families.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the requests were made under the Victims’ Right to Review scheme in relation to six infants. Letby, 36, is serving 15 whole-life prison terms for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others.
What the Lucy Letby further charges review examined
The convictions relate to babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016, where Letby worked as a neonatal nurse.
In January 2026, prosecutors reviewed a file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary and decided no further charges should follow.
That file covered deaths and non-fatal collapses at the Countess of Chester Hospital and at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
Families acting for six of the babies then asked for those decisions to be reviewed, and six offences of attempted murder were reconsidered.
How the Victims’ Right to Review scheme works
The scheme allows victims in England and Wales to ask for an independent reconsideration of a decision not to prosecute, or to stop a prosecution already under way.
The re-examination is carried out by a prosecutor who had no involvement in the original call.
The independent prosecutor went back over substantial evidence and material before arriving at the same conclusion as the January decision. Malcolm McHaffie, who heads the Special Crime Division at the CPS, set out the reasoning in a statement issued on Wednesday:
“In January 2026, after reviewing a file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary, we decided that no further criminal charges should be brought against Lucy Letby, 36, relating to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.”
“The Crown Prosecution Service subsequently received requests in relation to six infants for the decisions to be reviewed under the Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) scheme. An extensive review of the case by a prosecutor independent of the original decisions, involving a re-examination of substantial evidence and material, has now been completed.”
“Six offences of attempted murder were reconsidered in relation to six babies, but the review upheld the original decision not to bring any further criminal charges. The Crown Prosecution Service has written to the families involved and will offer meetings to answer any further questions. Our thoughts remain with them.”
A review under the scheme is not an appeal to a court. It is an internal check on whether the original decision was properly reached, and once that check is completed the CPS regards its answer as the final decision on the allegations in question.
What the Lucy Letby decision means for the families
The families of the six babies have been offered meetings with prosecutors to go through the reasoning in person.
Letby’s convictions stand, and she remains in prison under whole-life orders, which carry no minimum term and no prospect of release.
