The Court of Appeal has rejected the appeal application by child serial killer Lucy Letby, who was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others.
The former nurse, now 34, received 14 whole life orders with no chance of parole for the crimes committed while working at the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester hospital between 2015 and 2016.
Letby, who was stripped of her nursing credentials in December, sought to appeal her convictions, but the judicial spokesperson confirmed that the application has been refused. The rejected application can be renewed within 14 days at a full court hearing. Letby, currently held at HMP Bronzefield, reportedly enjoys certain privileges, including a key to her own cell for added security.
Letby is also said to gave bonded with Michelle Smith, a woman who murdered her own 42-day-old baby, and Shauna Hoare, who helped kill 16-year-old schoolgirl Becky Watts.
A source told the Mirror that the trio of killers had been playing board games together and sat with each other when it came to eating meals.
‘They were together 24 hours a day – they were a well-known threesome and were literally never apart,’ they said.
In September, it was announced that the serial killer will face a retrial over one count of attempted murder of a newborn baby girl, known only as ‘Baby K’.
Nick Johnson KC, for the prosecution, told Manchester Crown Court that a decision had been made to pursue a retrial in the case of Baby K, a girl born in February 2016.
The child’s parents were in court to hear the announcement. Letby attended the hour-long hearing via video link while her parents were absent.
The prosecution is not pursuing a retrial on the five other charges of attempted murder, relating to four babies – two girls, Baby H and Baby J, and two boys, Baby N and Baby Q.
Letby refused to come up from the cells when Mr Justice Goss sentenced her to 14 whole life terms following her convictions on August 21. She has applied for leave to appeal her convictions.
