Lucy Letby has been convicted for the murder of seven newborns and the attempted murder of seven more. But her first trial was a whisker away from being scrapped in the 11th hour, it has emerged

Lucy Letby’s first trial for the murders of multiple newborns almost collapsed when a malicious caller phoned to claim one of the jurors was biased against her, it has emerged.

The phone call, which could have bought Letby months more freedom from prosecution had the trial been called off, claimed a male juror had visited a shop and told the owner that the jury had “made up their minds about her from the start”. It was received by Manchester Crown Court midway through the jury’s deliberations last August.

When Letby’s defence barrister, Ben Myers KC, applied to appeal Letby’s convictions in April this year, he cited this “juror irregularity” as a reason why the conviction was unsafe and should be overturned. The appeal was comprehensively rejected on all four grounds.

Letby was convicted in August 2023 of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others while working in the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016. She was yesterday found guilty of an attempt to murder Baby K, after a retrial was ordered on the single count when a verdict couldn’t be reached in the first trial.

Media restrictions have prevented the media from reporting the details of the defence’s appeal against Letby’s conviction - including the “juror irregularity” - until today. After Letby’s retrial has resulted in one more conviction, the details of the appeal have now been released.

The phone call was investigated by the court on the orders of trial judge Mr Justice Goss, and the juror in question was approached about the allegations. It emerged that the call was made as a result of an unrelated dispute between the juror and the caller.

It became clear that the shop owner had a grudge against the juror’s partner and the owner’s former colleague, after they fell out due to the sale of a mobile phone, the court heard. The juror’s partner had been assaulted on August 2 by the shop owner after she went to receive her phone, the Daily Mail reported.

The issue was dealt with by “community resolution” after the police were called, according to prosecutor Nicholas Johnson KC. He said: “Within an hour or two the complainant was on the phone to the court…(this was) not mere coincidence.”

The appeal hearing for Letby was told that Mr Justice Goss approached the issue very seriously, ensuring he asked him directly about the case. The juror reportedly does not agree with the complainant's version of events and says he had never spoken about the case nor visited the shop while the trial was ongoing.

Mr Justice Goss concluded: “I've had the benefit of observing the trial jurors over nine months and questioning the juror today. He answered the questions clearly and in a straight-forward manner. Neither his demeanour or answers gave any indication of being untruthful and he was unaware of what he was being asked.

“(There is) no reliable material to show the juror has done anything other than faithfully follow my initial directions. He allowed the juror to continue with the rest of the panel, who carried on with their deliberations until their verdicts were made public 16 days later on August 18.”