Was Lucy Letby framed for a medical drama?
Lucy Letby
Consultant paediatrician Ravi Jayaram played a significant role in the jailing of nurse Lucy Letby for the deaths of several babies at Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit. Strangely, he was the only medical witness of any murderous acts at the two trials. But as Unherd website revealed, the evidence he gave to the case was contradicted by an e-mail he had sent about one of the babies who died — a message hidden from the jury. And now we learn that Jayaram was set to make a lot of money from a television drama about the convicted nurse.
The court was told by Jayaram that he observed Letby standing over the cot of Baby K and doing nothing to intervene in the mortal danger, and that she failed to seek medical intervention. So it seemed that Letby was caught red-handed.. Actually, Jayaram wrote at the time that ‘at the time of the deterioration, staff nurse Letby at incubator and called Dr Jayaram to inform of low saturation. Baby eventually died but…would fit with explainable events associated with extreme prematurity’.
Baby K was born at 25 weeks, and it must be understood that deaths are inevitable in a neonatal unit dealing with such vulnerable babies. A recent report by an independent panel of experts found that not one of the babies’ deaths attributed to Letby were caused deliberately: they died from various natural causes in their precarious state.
Since this revelation, on which the Countess of Chester Hospital refused to comment, a planned television drama on Lucy Letby has been shelved due to growing doubts about the convictions. Jed Mercurio, producer of BBC police series ‘Line of Duty’, said that ‘it is more complicated than it first appeared’. Jayaram was working with Mercurio on the production.
The exposed e-mail accentuated the belief — initially held by a few commentators such as I — but now becoming widespread — of a major miscarriage of justice. It also suggests that a doctor at the hospital may have been motivated to contribute to Letby’s guilty verdict, by the prospect of making money and fame from a television drama with a likely massive audience.
Although this may not have been Jayaram’s intent, the show would have emphasised how the NHS relies on skilled clinicians from other cultures, and how doctors such as he prevented a white Christian nurse from killing more kids.
Perjury is a serious crime, particularly if it leads to a person being jailed for life. While we cannot be sure about whether Jayaram lied in his evidence for the court, the refuting e-mail and the paediatrician’s involvement in a major television drama are concerning, if not disturbing indications of foul play. But do not expect the presiding judge, Lady Thirlwall, who banned any questions about Letby’s guilt from her enquiry, to take note.
If and when Lucy Letby’s convictions are overturned and she is freed from prison, there must be repercussions for those who facilitated the public lynching and penal retribution for a nurse who possibly did nothing wrong at all.
