Lucy Letby latest as lawyers to challenge nurse's sentence within weeks

The 34-year-old, who worked at the Countess of Cheseter Hospital’s neonatal unit, first applied to challenge her sentence last month but it was refused by a judge. Her current sentence dictates that she will spend the rest of her life life behind bars.

However, Letby who was sentenced to 14 whole life orders after she was convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others, will be allowed to renew her efforts before a panel of three judges at the hearing in two months’ time.

During Lucy Letby’s trial at Manchester Crown Court, a jury was unable to reach verdicts on six counts of attempted murder including two alleged attempts on the same baby’s life, and as a result will face a retrial in June on a single count that she attempted to murder a baby girl, child K, in February 2016.

The identities of the surviving and dead babies at the centre of the allegations can not be named due to a court order.

If judges again decline to give permission, it will mark the end of the appeal process for Letby. If she does receive permission, then the appeal will be heard at a separate hearing at a later date.