British tech tycoon Mike Lynch planned to investigate whether convicted killer nurse Lucy Letby is a victim of miscarriage of justice, a senior MP has revealed.
Sir David Davis said Mr Lynch, who died in an horrific yacht disaster off the coast of Sicily, “saw straight through the statistical weaknesses that underpinned the Letby prosecution”.
Sir David and the businessman were due to meet last Thursday.
Mr Lynch had been acquitted of fraud in a US trial before he died and planned to set up a non-profit group fighting on behalf of people who have suffered miscarriages of justice.
Letby was convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Writing in The Sunday Times newspaper, Sir David said: “The toll on Mike was immense, but so was the relief when he was acquitted in June. That’s what makes last week’s cruel turn of events ever more tragic.
“When he returned to the UK and we had lunch to celebrate his victory, Mike spoke of the ‘St Peter questions’ – what he would say to St Peter at the pearly gates, when asked ‘How well have you spent your life?’.
“He intended to have a good answer to that question when describing the remainder of his life’s work.
“So Mike was committed to fighting for those who might face similar injustices to those he had to tolerate in the last decade. He planned to establish a UK equivalent to the Innocence Project, a US non-profit organisation that works to exonerate those who have suffered miscarriages of justice.
“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.
“One of our first projects was going to be investigating that trial properly. We were due to meet on Thursday, August 22, to discuss the plans. But on Monday, just as I was planning to send him a text to confirm the lunch, devastating news was breaking about his superyacht sinking during stormy weather near Palermo in Italy.”
Several scientists and doctors have questioned the statistical evidence used to convict Letby.
There are concerns that not enough weight was given to levels of under-staffing, poor practice and cramped conditions in the baby unit, as well as the severe prematurity of the babies.
Earlier this month, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) admitted that evidence presented in the case showing which staff came in and out of the baby unit was wrong.
Sir David, who is analysing the evidence used to convict the neonatal nurse and is planning to bring a parliamentary debate after the summer recess, added: “Mike’s tragic death is a stark reminder of the human cost of legal systems that, while designed to uphold justice, can themselves become instruments of profound injustice.
“When Mike was acquitted, his first instinct was to call me shortly after the verdict came through and tell me that “we had to deal with this terrible treaty”. He didn’t want to see anyone else go through what he had gone through.
“His death is a dreadful personal tragedy for his family and friends; but it is also a huge loss for society as a whole.”