British nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital. (Reuters)
In short:
A retired neonatal expert, Dr Shoo Lee, has said his research was misused during the trial of a British nurse who was later convicted of murdering seven babies.
British nurse Lucy Letby is currently serving 15 life sentences and is considered the UK's worst baby killer.
Her lawyers have now entered a fresh bid to overturn her conviction.
A neonatal doctor whose research was used to help convict British nurse Lucy Letby over deaths of seven babies says he believes the infants were not murdered.
Letby, 35, is currently serving 15 life sentences with no chance of release, after being found guilty of the murder of seven newborns and the attempted murder of seven more, at an English hospital in 2015 and 2016.
The high-profile case made her the country's worst ever baby serial killer, but Letby has always maintained her innocence.
At a press conference on Tuesday, retired Canadian neonatologist Dr Shoo Lee said a group of 14 doctors concluded the newborns either died of natural causes or from bad medical care.
Dr Shoo Lee, right, says a review of medical evidence at Letby's trial cannot prove the infants were murdered. (AP: Ben Whitley)
Dr Lee said his own research, which had been cited in during Letby's trial, had been misused.
Instead, he said the group was disputing the prosecution's argument that many of the babies had died at the hands of Letby, after she injected air into their bloodstreams.
"In summary then, ladies and gentlemen, we did not find murders," Dr Lee said.
"In all cases, death or injury was due to natural causes or just bad medical care."
'No evidence' of embolisms
Letby's legal team last year launched two bids to challenge her convictions, both of which were quashed.
Following Tuesday's press conference, Letby's lawyers launched a fresh bid to overthrow her conviction with the UK's Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Judge says families of Letby's victims suffering 'distress'
Photo shows A woman looks at the camera.
Defence lawyer Mark McDonald said there was now "overwhelming evidence" that Letby was wrongly convicted.
"If [the experts] are correct, no crime was committed."
During her trial, the prosecution said Letby left little trace when she killed babies.
They alleged in some cases, she had injected air into their bloodstreams or stomach, causing an embolism.
Dr Dewi Evans, the prosecution's leading expert, diagnosed the babies with air embolism in the absence of finding another cause of death, Dr Lee said.Â
But Dr Lee said an embolism is very rare and the skin discolouration described at trial was not consistent with that diagnosis.
"The notion that these babies can be diagnosed with air embolism because they collapsed and had these skin discolourations has no evidence in fact," he said.
AP/Reuters
