Lucy Letby's father wanted 'instant dismissal' of doctors who raised concerns, inquiry hears

Lucy Letby's father demanded the "instant dismissal" of two consultants who suspected his daughter of intentionally harming infants on a neonatal unit, an inquiry has heard.

John Letby reportedly "exerted pressure" on staff at the Countess of Chester Hospital through phone calls, one of which was to the then HR director.

They told the Thirlwall Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Letby's crimes that this was the only time she had discussed an employment matter with a staff member's relative.

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Mr Letby's calls to Sue Hodkinson followed a meeting in December 2016 where he and his wife told hospital executives their daughter "had been to hell and back" after being moved from the unit five months prior due to concerns raised by consultants. The inquiry heard accusations that some doctors referred to Letby as "angel of death" and "murderer on the unit" and that she believed Dr Stephen Brearey and Dr Ravi Jayaram led a campaign against her.

On Tuesday, evidence was presented that Mr Letby had told hospital bosses: "The behaviour of those two people, they should be instantly dismissed."

He also wanted to know what “severity of actions” would take place against the two doctors after medical director Ian Harvey was noted to say it was “inappropriate behaviour”.

Mr Letby also made numerous phone calls to occupational health nurse Kathryn de Beger, who had been assigned to support Letby following her redeployment.

Giving evidence, Ms Hodkinson said: “She described to me how Mr Letby was getting agitated on the phone with her, that it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage and she felt very uncomfortable.

"I felt I needed to support her through this situation. In fact I don’t think I had ever spoken to a member of a family in relation to an employment issue. That was the only time.

"And then having the conversation with Mr Letby it was very clear it was a very difficult set of conversations.

"In my view he wanted to express his anger towards the ongoing situation with Letby."

"John was placing Kathryn under significant pressure to have the calls escalated to a more senior level.

"In normal circumstances I would not have dealt with a call of this nature or spoken to a staff member’s parent.

"These were however exceptional circumstances and I felt I needed to step in and support other members of staff who were struggling with the amount of pressure being exerted."

Tony Chambers, the chief executive, asked consultants to apologise to Letby for alleged insults, following which Letby emailed colleagues announcing her return to the unit as she had been "fully exonerated" from any accusations.

But Letby never returned to the unit as the hospital finally called in the police in May 2017 after previously opting to commission a series of reviews into the increased numbers of deaths in 2015 and 2016.

Ms Hodkinson said a “real turning point” happened on March 15 2017 when Dr Jayaram told her about an incident in February 2016 when he had seen Letby at a baby’s cot side and that a valve had moved to a different setting.

Ms Hodkinson said it made her feel “really, really uncomfortable” and she was “stunned”.

She added: "I didn’t think we had really looked into some of the aspects enough clinically and I have to take his concerns seriously.

“I remember going home at night and I was in tears about it.”

She told the inquiry she believed what Dr Jayaram had told her and informed fellow executives the next day.

Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.

The inquiry, sitting at Liverpool Town Hall before Lady Justice Thirlwall, is expected to sit until early 2025, with findings published by late autumn of that year.