Former Health Secretary Sir Jeremy Hunt has pointed to the Lucy Letby case as definitive proof that the United Kingdom should never restore the death penalty, emphasising that judicial systems are inherently fallible.
Judicial Fallibility and Capital Punishment
Speaking candidly on The Crime Agency Podcast, the Conservative MP for South West Surrey stated his firm opposition to reintroducing capital punishment. "I wouldn’t vote to restore the death penalty," Sir Jeremy declared. "And actually, it’s for this reason. It’s because courts do make mistakes sometimes, and this might be one of those occasions in which that is the case." His comments directly reference the high-profile convictions of Lucy Letby, which are currently under potential review.
The Letby Case and Ongoing Scrutiny
Lucy Letby, a 36-year-old from Hereford, is currently serving 15 whole-life orders at HMP Bronzefield. She was convicted of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one victim, during her tenure as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
Notably, an inquest into the death of one infant, Baby A, held in October 2016, recorded a narrative conclusion. It stated that the cause of the baby's collapse and subsequent death could not be definitively determined as either a natural or unnatural event. Letby was removed from clinical duties in July 2016 after consultant paediatricians raised serious concerns about her potential deliberate harm to babies. The Criminal Cases Review Commission is now considering her case for a formal review.
Broader NHS Maternity Care Concerns
Sir Jeremy expanded his argument beyond the specifics of the Letby trial, connecting it to wider, systemic issues within the National Health Service. "If you look at the rest of the NHS, we’ve got a problem with our maternity care at the moment," he observed.
He highlighted a pattern of concerning incidents across several NHS trusts: "And it’s not just the Countess of Chester where there’s been a spike in baby deaths. We know that it happened in Morecambe Bay, in East Kent, in Shrewsbury, in Telford, in Nottingham." Sir Jeremy noted that he had ordered inquiries into Morecambe Bay, Shrewsbury, and Telford during his tenure, with his successors launching an investigation in Nottingham. He also suggested similar concerns may arise in Leeds.
"I’m not sure the numbers suggest that the number of baby deaths was particularly higher at the Countess of Chester than some of these other hospitals where there had been scandals," he added, implying a complex backdrop against which individual criminal cases must be judged.
Recent Legal Developments
In related legal proceedings, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) recently concluded its review of further allegations against Letby. Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism division, confirmed that a file of evidence was received from Cheshire Constabulary in July 2025 regarding additional allegations connected to the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women's Hospital.
Following a thorough assessment, the CPS decided that no criminal charges should be brought. The review considered potential charges of murder and attempted murder concerning two infants who died and attempted murder concerning seven infants who survived. "We concluded that the evidential test was not met in any of those cases," a CPS statement confirmed.
Sir Jeremy Hunt's intervention frames the Letby case not merely as a horrific criminal episode, but as a potent symbol of why the ultimate, irreversible punishment of death must remain absent from British law, especially amidst ongoing scrutiny of NHS maternity safety and the possibility of judicial error.
