Mike Lynch believed killer nurse Lucy Letby may very well be ‘harmless’

A former Tory cabinet minister has claimed that the late British tech billionaire Mike Lynch had concerns about the conviction of killer nurse Lucy Letby and was considering to fund a British ‘Innocence Project’. 

Former Brexit secretary David Davis, who was defeated in a Tory party leadership contest by David Cameron, said the billionaire yacht owner was prepared to look at the killer nurse’s case. 

Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering six babies and the attempted murders of seven others – including two attempts to kill one of the infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital. 

She has received 15 whole life orders following her convictions at Manchester Crown Court.  

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Davis claimed Mr Lynch – who succeeded in a decade-long battle against US prosecutors, said: ‘He raised the case of the Lucy Letby trial as one that had already caught his attention. Mike was a world-class expert on probability theory, and saw straight through the statistical weaknesses that underpinned the Letby prosecution.’

Mr Davis said the billionaire, who died last week when his yacht sank during a freak weather event, said the tech entrepreneur was interested in miscarriages of justice following his experience in dealing with US Federal authorities. 

Mr Lynch was accused of defrauding US technology giant Hewlett Packard during the sale of his company Autonomy.

UK authorities signed off on Mr Lynch’s extradition to the United States where he was offered a plea deal by federal prosecutors for a guilty plea. 

Mr Davis said: ‘The tragic death of Mike Lynch marks the end of an incredible life and the loss of a man whose name became synonymous with battling the injustices of the UK-US extradition treaty.’

Mr Davis said the extradition treaty between the United States and Britain was unfair. He said Mr Lynch should have been prosecuted in London rather than the United States. 

He said US authorities will vigorously prosecute UK nationals not in the interests of justice, rather to support the interests of US corporations.  

He said: ‘In Mike’s case the highly politicised American prosecutorial system acted like an arm of corporate America, in this case Hewlett-Packard. The American case was so flimsy that an American jury threw out all 15 charges, and an initially hostile judge completely changed his stance.’ 

Family friends of Mike and Hannah Lynch have said the father and daughter were part of a ‘united, vibrant, loving family’ – with the teenager remembered as a ‘diamond in a sea of stars’ and the tech mogul as a brilliant storyteller.

The pair were among seven people who died after the luxury superyacht Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily early on Monday morning.

Mr Lynch was the creator of software giant Autonomy and had been cleared in June of carrying out a massive fraud related to its 11 billion dollar (£8.64 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.

His daughter Hannah had recently finished her A-levels and was due to study at Oxford University.

Sasha Murray, chief stewardess of the Bayesian, said: ‘Those who knew her will know that Hannah was a diamond in a sea of stars. Bright, beautiful and always shining.

‘What most people may not have seen was the extraordinarily strong, deep and loving relationship she shared with her parents, whom she adored more than anything.

‘While swimming with them she often said, if anything ever happened she would save them.

‘I have no doubt that the Irish, Latina fire that burns in her soul kept that spirited determination alive.’

It is understood Ms Murray was rescued after disaster struck the yacht earlier this week.