Will Lucy Letby Get Another Appeal as New Reviews and Inquests Continue?

The case remains one of the most closely followed criminal proceedings in the United Kingdom. Convicted in 2023 of murdering and harming newborn babies while working as a neonatal nurse in 2015–2016, Lucy Letby is serving multiple whole-life prison sentences. Yet years after the verdicts, her name continues to dominate headlines as new legal and procedural developments unfold.

Decisions by prosecutors, ongoing reviews, and reopened inquests have fueled renewed public interest in what happens next. Netflix also took an interest in her story and released a documentary titled The Investigation of Lucy Letby.

While no convictions have been overturned, the legal process surrounding Letby is still active in several areas. That has led many to ask the same question. Will Lucy Letby get another appeal?

According to the BBC, Letby has already made two unsuccessful attempts to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal. As of early 2026, there is no scheduled appeal and no automatic right to another hearing.

However, her legal team has applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which has the authority to refer cases back to the appeal court if a potential miscarriage of justice is identified.

In January 2026, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that Letby will not face any further criminal charges after reviewing additional allegations involving nine babies. Prosecutors said the evidential threshold required to bring new charges had not been met. The CPS stressed that this decision does not affect or undermine Letby’s existing convictions or sentences.

Letby’s barrister, Mark McDonald, has argued that new medical reviews support her claims of innocence and should be urgently reconsidered by the courts. He has submitted dozens of expert reports to the review commission, but unless the CCRC refers the case, no further appeal will proceed. At this stage, another appeal remains possible but uncertain.

Letby is serving 15 whole-life prison sentences for crimes committed between June 2015 and June 2016 at the Countess of Chester Hospital. She was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others, including two attempts on one child. Those convictions followed two lengthy criminal trials and remain legally upheld.

According to People, Prosecutors alleged that Letby harmed infants by overfeeding them to the point of vomiting and by introducing air into their stomachs or bloodstreams. In testimony, a parent of one surviving baby said their child was left with irreversible brain damage and quadriplegic cerebral palsy after receiving excess milk and air.

According to another report by the BBC, in early 2026, coroners formally opened inquests into the deaths of five babies whom Letby was convicted of murdering. The hearings were adjourned and are expected to resume later in the year. During the proceedings, a coroner’s officer stated that in each case there was “reason to suspect an unnatural death,” reflecting the findings already established by the criminal courts.

These inquests are not retrials and cannot overturn convictions. Instead, they focus on recording how and when the deaths occurred. Letby has been granted interested person status and is represented by her legal team, but the scope of the inquests is limited by the existing guilty verdicts.

Alongside the inquests, a public inquiry is examining the wider circumstances surrounding the hospital where Letby worked, including staffing, oversight, and institutional failures. The inquiry does not reassess guilt or innocence, but its findings are expected to inform future policy and healthcare safeguards.

At the same time, public debate has been reignited by renewed media attention and Netflix coverage. Families of the victims have emphasized the lasting impact of Letby’s crimes, while her supporters continue to argue that the case deserves further scrutiny. For now, the legal path forward depends entirely on the outcome of the independent review process.

Letby’s convictions remain firmly in place, but the legal story around her case is not fully settled. Between reopened inquests, a public inquiry, and a review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, multiple processes are still unfolding. Whether any of them lead back to the appeal courts remains uncertain, but they ensure the case continues to be examined long after the original verdicts.