Inquests into the deaths of babies murdered by child serial killer Lucy Letby will open within a fortnight.
The 36-year-old former neo-natal nurse is serving a record 15 whole life terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more – one of whom she attacked twice – at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
Today Cheshire Coroner’s Court said inquests into the deaths of Letby’s victims would be opened on February 4 – in some cases more than a decade after the infants died.
The news emerged after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed that Letby would not face any new criminal charges over allegations of murder and attempted murder against nine children at the Chester hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
The court did not reveal how many inquests would be taking place but in a statement simply said: ‘Inquests touching upon a number of baby deaths occurring at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015/2016 and linked to criminal proceedings resulting in the conviction of Lucy Letby are to be opened at Cheshire Coroner’s Court on 4 February 2026 at 10:30am.’
Letby was convicted of killing seven children but an eighth child – a very premature baby girl known as Baby K – also died.
Letby was originally charged with her murder but that offence was later downgraded by prosecutors and she was eventually found guilty of Baby K’s attempted murder.
None of the babies can be named for legal reasons and the coroner’s court added that reporting restrictions would remain in place during the hearings to protect the identities of the infants and their families.
The statement added: ‘Given the existing lifetime injunctions, the pre-inquest review hearing will be closed to members of the public, including the press.’
Cheshire Coroner’s Court said inquests into the deaths of Letby’s victims would be opened on February 4 – in some cases more than a decade after the infants died.
The Women and Children’s building at the Countess of Chester Hospital, which houses the neo-natal unit, where Letby committed her crimes
Cheshire Police submitted evidence to the CPS for consideration of a further 11 allegations – including two of murder and nine of attempted murder – against nine children last July.
Detectives have spent the past two and a half years, since Letby was convicted at Manchester Crown Court, investigating all of the 4,000 babies she cared for over her four-year nursing career, including during training placements she undertook at the Liverpool hospital in 2012 and 2015.
However, on Tuesday the CPS said the evidential threshold for charging Letby with those new offences had not been met.
Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS’s Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: ‘We received a file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary in July 2025 asking us to consider further allegations against Lucy Letby, 36, relating to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
‘Following a thorough review of that evidence, we have decided that no criminal charges should be brought in respect of those further allegations.
‘We concluded that the evidential test was not met in any of those cases.
‘As always, this decision was made independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test.
‘The CPS has written to the families involved and will offer meetings to explain our decision-making in further detail. Our thoughts remain with them.’
In response, Cheshire Police said they disagreed with the CPS’s decision, which was ‘not the outcome we had anticipated.’
Their strongly worded statement added: ‘We were confident that we held enough evidence to take to the CPS.
‘We believed the evidence submitted met the CPS charging standard. The CPS did not agree and despite our representations we must respect the decision that has been made.’
Letby, of Hereford, has always maintained her innocence but two applications for leave to appeal her convictions have already been refused by the Court of Appeal.
Her new legal team have submitted 31 new expert medical reports to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body that investigates potential miscarriages of justice, in the hope her case will be reviewed a third time and she will be freed.