‘It’s IMPOSSIBLE Letby’s “victims” died that way’ – top surgeon’s damning verdict undermines prosecution star witness

NONE of the babies died from the method of murder used in court to convict Lucy Letby, an exclusive Sun documentary will reveal. Leading experts have raised serious doubt over the theory the nurse injected the six or seven victims with air – put forward by prosecution medical advisor Dewi Evans. Experts have raised doubts over prosecution medical adviser Dewi Evans’ theory Credit: PA Vascular Dr Colin Ferguson started examining the case after Letby’s trial Credit: Dan Charity Lucy Letby is serving 15 whole-life orders after being convicted of murdering seven babies Credit: SWNS:South West News Service Anyone who dies from the condition – known as air embolism – will have air visible in the heart, where bubbles create a lock and stop it pumping, experts claim. However, an exclusive Sun documentary being aired on 5 tonight will reveal NONE of the murder indictment babies had air found where researchers would expect. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The evidence has been reviewed by a team made-up of a vascular surgeon, neonatologist, and diving medics. It raises the serious possibility no known method of murder now exists for all the babies Lucy Letby is behind bars for killing. Dr Ferguson disputes the prosecution explanation that air responsible for a fatal embolism could subsequently have been absorbed Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others Credit: AFP Vascular Dr Colin Ferguson, who spent his career treating blood vessels and blood flow, began examining the case after following Letby’s ten-month trial. The former director of professional affairs for the Royal College of Surgeons said: “These babies have not died from air embolism. “The fact that six, if not seven, babies are meant to have died from air embolism and in none of these cases was air found in the heart at post-mortem means that this is just not true. “There isn’t any evidence that it’s happened and somehow they have managed to convince a whole range of people that there’s a possibility that it did.” Most read in The Sun Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others at the Countess of Chester Hospital. A major part of the prosecution case was that she deliberately injected air into the bloodstream of babies, causing potentially fatal air embolisms. The Crown’s medical expert Dr Dewi Evans described injected air travelling through the veins to the right side of the heart. He and neontologist Sandie Bohin, who peer reviewed his reports for the court, agreed a sufficiently large volume could obstruct circulation in the heart and cause rapid death. It comes as… A whistleblower says Lucy Letby may have been ‘scapegoat’ to cover up failures at the unit A mum says she believes her boy died of a sewage-linked bug that came from the taps months after Letby was removed from the unit Evidence that could have helped Letby’s defence ‘wasn’t heard in court’ An unseen bombshell email sent by a doctor who was the only Letby eyewitness CONTRADICTS his evidence to jury The Sun has seen Dr Evans witness statement to the court. In it he reviewed all the known cases of air embolism in the world – meaning he was aware air had always been found. Yet, as the prosecution’s medical advisor and key witness, he dismissed that “real-world data” claiming the air must have been “absorbed”. Experts have now blasted it is “impossible” for air to be absorbed in the way the court relied on to convict Letby. Research has never shown this before. During the trial the claimed causes of deaths of the babies were bizarrely unclear. But for five of the babies Dr Evans and his co-witnesses relied on air embolism. Evans incredibly changed his mind on the stand in relation to Baby C and since the trial now relies on air embolism. He has also reviewed the cause of death of Baby P. The Sun now understands he relies on air embolism in that case too. Asked by The Sun if he had found the first seven cases of air embolism in the world with no air found in the heart, Dr Evans declined to comment, insisting air could have been “missed”. Colin Ferguson said: “When the Lucy Letby trial was underway, I seemed to be not hearing any obvious evidence of guilt. And I was waiting for the killer blow to occur or the smoking gun to appear. Experts have now blasted it is “impossible” for air to be absorbed in the way the court relied on to convict Letby Credit: PA Retired Detective Superintendent Stuart Clifton said he did not believe Lucy Letby was responsible for any criminal acts Credit: Andrew Styczynski And it never did.” He said: “I spent my career dealing with blood vessels and blood flowing in blood vessels. It didn’t seem to make clinical sense to me that these babies had died of air embolism. There didn’t seem to be the evidence to support that assertion. By far the commonest way that an air embolism would kill a person would be if it’s injected into a vein in sufficient volume that the air would then obstruct the right side of the heart. So that the outflow from the right side of the heart, the pulmonary artery, becomes blocked by the air. And when that happens, circulation suddenly stops and blood pressure disappears and the person will die quite quickly.” Dr Ferguson disputes the prosecution explanation that air responsible for a fatal embolism could subsequently have been absorbed. He said: “That can’t happen. Air cannot be absorbed from the heart once a person has died. “It’s a physical impossibility. If somebody has died from air embolism, it is inevitable that you will find air in the heart.” He added: “In every single case that he’s reported in his literature review and witness statement, air has been found in the heart. “The real-world data says that in order to die from venous air embolism, you have to have those features. “And unless you can explain to me how a baby died without that being apparent, I’m struggling to understand.” In response Dr Evans suggested the volumes of air could have been small and therefore overlooked. Neonatologists have said they do not support this claim as an explanation for air not being seen in the heart of all the babies. Retired Det Supt Stuart Clifton, who snared Angel of Death nurse Beverley Allitt, said: “The whole case is based, or was based, on presence. Nothing else. There was no actual proof. “There was just evidence of opinion. There is nothing that suggests that she did anything to create situations where she was left alone with the children. “There’s nothing that suggests that she’s manipulated staff. Quite honestly, there is nothing that you could term evidence that would be sufficient to convict. “Not only do I believe that Lucy Letby is not responsible for any criminal acts, I’ve got to go one step further and I’m going to say there never were any crimes for her to commit.” In response to the air embolism claims, Dr Evans said his work was peer reviewed for the court by neonatologist Sandie Bohin. He said: “Air may pass through the pulmonary vessels and, particularly in a newborn infant, through the foramen ovale [FO], which is an opening between the right and left atria. “A patent ductus arteriosus provides another route by which air may leave the heart. Once air enters the pulmonary circulation, it may dissipate through the very thin pulmonary vasculature into the airways. “All of the babies received vigorous resuscitation. In addition to the inevitability of air dissipating because of robust cardiac massage a standard x-ray would be unlikely to detect tiny air bubbles, especially if the bubbles were found within the thorax, which is naturally full of air within the lungs. “ In a face-to-face meeting, Dr Evans became visibly flustered as before taking off his microphone and walking out when confronted with the claims. He claimed with authority that there were no known cases in research papers of babies with air embolism. But he became visibly subdued when confronted with the fact that EIGHT cases are known to exist. Similarly, Dr Evans balked at claims air cannot be absorbed – which he had relied on in his evidence to the court. Having discussed the matter for 90 minutes, Dr Evans stuck by his medical opinion. WATCH & STREAM on 5 Lucy Letby: Scapegoat? Monday, September 21 at 10pm Comment now