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14 February 2025
Issue: 8104 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal , Health , National Health Service , Expert Witness
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NLJ this week: Lucy Letby & an appeals system in crisis

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Is our criminal appeals system fit for purpose? Jon Robins, NLJ columnist, writes that he recently attended an ‘astonishing press conference’ on the Lucy Letby case, in which the international panel of medical experts, working pro bono, ‘did not equivocate.

‘Dr Shoo Lee said that injury or death in all 17 cases was due either to natural causes or to errors in medical care’.

If Letby, the former nurse convicted of the murder of seven infants and attempted murder of seven more, is innocent, what happens now? Is our criminal appeals system up to the job of repairing a possible miscarriage of justice?

Read Jon's article in full here. 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

Freeths—Michelle Kirkland Elias

International hospitality and leisure specialist joins corporate team as partner

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Flint Bishop—Deborah Niven

Firm appoints head of intellectual property to drive northern growth

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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