it isa it is a nonstatutory enquiry which means it will not have the powers to compel people to give evidence under oath or to hand over documents. having said that, both the former chief executive of the officer and the medical director who were both in charge at the time lucy letby was at the hospital have said they will welcome the enquiry. it will look into the circumstances of what happened and what lessons can be learned. how were whistleblowers treated, how where there are concerns treated, or any mistakes made by statutory bodies and what lessons can be learned from that? the decision has coming for criticism for some people including the former chief crown prosecutor for northern england nazir afzal. the government says it meant it will mean that they can take action more quickly, be more flexible and have
lessons learnt as soon as possible. lucy letby will be sentence on monday at ten o clock at manchester crown court and i think the reverberations of this case will last for a long time to come. thank ou ve last for a long time to come. thank you very much. last for a long time to come. thank you very much, rowan. 0ur political correspondent damian grammaticus joins us now. damian, lucy letby has said she won t attend her sentencing on monday, but legislation to force convicted criminals to appear is currently being examined? yes, that s right. this goes back to last year, in fact. dominic raab said he was looking at legislation to try to force people to attend sentencing or face the consequences and what that means really is that it might be difficult to push someone to be in court, thejudge might then have the power to increase the sentence. the ministry
thoughts of someone accused of heinous crimes. the trial was told letby had used hard to detect methods to carry out her attacks. in her hands, innocuous substances like air, milk or medication like insulin would become lethal. she perverted her learning and she weaponised her craft to inflict harm, grief and death. legally, we can t identify the families who were involved in this case. these are the parents of twin boys born prematurely at the hospital. their mother was taking milk to them when she heard one of her sons crying loudly. in the corridor, i could immediately hear crying. well, it was it felt more than crying, it was screaming. it was screaming. and i was like, what? what s the matter with them? i walked into the room to see it was my boy. he had blood round his mouth, and lucy was there, well, faffing about.
ian harvey were asked to hold an urgent meeting they didn t respond for three months. injune 2016, two babies died on consecutive days when lucy letby was on shift. the day after the second death she was due back at work. paediatrician steve breary asked the duty manager to replace her, though the manager refused. letby went to work and a baby unexpectedly collapsed. in september, the royal college of paediatrics and child health was asked to carry out a review of the neonatal unit. it urged the trust to investigate each death individually this didn t happen. around this time, lucy letby launched a grievance against the paediatricians that had expressed concern about her the internal process concluded that she had been discriminated against and victimised by the doctors on the unit. with the paediatricians still wanting a police investigation, in january 2017 an extraordinary board meeting was held. the trust apologised to letby and decided she should return to the neonatal unit.
it seemed unbelievable a neonatal nurse, a protector of the most vulnerable members of society. lucy letby had worked at the countess of chester children s hospital since 2012. in early 2015, she qualified to work in the neonatal high dependency and intensive care units. 0njune 8 that year, she committed her first murder. for the next 12 months, the attacks continued. injune 2016, two babies died in two days. 0n the third day, another baby collapsed. letby was taken off clinical duties. two years later, letby was arrested for the first time. police found medical records under her bed and hand scrawled notes. i am a horrible, evil person, one says. i am evil. i did this, says another. a confession or, as letby claimed the tormented