Lucy Letby: inquiry 'not to review' murder convictions, chair says
Lady Justice Thirwall criticised "commentary" around whether the former nurse is guilty of murdering seven babies
The chair of the Lucy Letby inquiry has said it is not for her to "review" the former nurse's murder convictions.
Letby, 34, is currently serving 15 whole life orders for killing seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, and lost a Court of Appeal battle in May.
The public inquiry into events will look at how Letby was able to attack babies on the Countess of Chester Hospital's neo-natal unit in 2015 and 2016, and how its bosses handled concerns.
"Noise" causing extreme distress to parents of victims
Opening the inquiry, Lady Justice Thirlwall said that appeal judgment was a "watershed" as the parents of the nurse's victim could now turn their minds to the inquiry.
She said: "At last the parents had finality, or so it seemed. But it was not to be.
"In the months that followed...there has been a huge outpouring of comment from a variety of quarters on the validity of the convictions.
"As far as I am aware it has come entirely from people who were not at the trial. Parts of the evidence has been selected and there has been criticism of the defence at the trial.
"All of this noise has caused enormous additional distress to the parents who have already suffered far too much."
Lady Justice Thirlwall said that the inquiry bears her surname so that the parents do not repeatedly see the name of the person convicted of harming their babies.
She said it was planned that the hearings in Liverpool would finish in early 2025 and she expected her findings to be published by late autumn of that year.