Expert hounded from her home as explosive podcast lays bare the Letby scandal
A prosecution expert witness in the Lucy Letby trial has been forced to leave her home following a sustained campaign of harassment and threats.
New claims aired in a recent episode of The Trial+ Lucy Letby podcast by The Crime Desk have brought renewed attention to the expert evidence underpinning the conviction of Lucy Letby. The case continues to exact a devastating toll on those who gave evidence in it.
The Crime Desk podcast, The Letby Effect - The Trial+ features an interview with Dr Sandie Bohin, a consultant neonatologist who acted as a prosecution expert witness and was asked by the Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Crime Agency to peer review the reports of lead prosecution expert Dr Dewi Evans. She agreed with the majority of his findings and concluded that harm had been done to the babies in Letby's care. She stands by that testimony today.
But the episode also makes explosive allegations about the conduct of the defence expert review. According to the podcast, the international panel of experts assembled by Letby's barrister Mark McDonald, it is understood, were not given full medical evidence to review, only selected snippets.
The episode alleges that a leading Canadian neonatologist, whose published paper was central to arguments made at trial, made significant edits to that paper immediately before the defence press conference. Dr Bohin who has spent her career in Guernsey and is now being forced to relocate says she has never witnessed anything like it.
TLA Medicolegal has followed the Letby case closely, as previously reported, raising serious questions about the quality and experience of expert witnesses on both sides of the case.
Fiona Morrison, Director and Co-founder of TLA Medicolegal, said: "The suggestion that some experts may have formed opinions without access to the full medical records is deeply concerning. Expert evidence must be based on a thorough and comprehensive review of all available material.
“The allegation that a key paper was edited just before the press conference is staggering! The fact that Dr Bohin is now being driven from her home is a damning reflection of what this case has unleashed."
The episode raises a wider concern that the treatment of expert witnesses in the Letby case could deter qualified clinicians from participating in future criminal trials, with serious consequences for the justice system.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission is currently considering Letby's case. She was convicted in 2023 of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others during her time as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital.