A coroner has opened a formal inquest into the deaths of five newborn babies of convicted murderer Lucy Levy.
During a 20-minute hearing at Cheshire Coroner’s Court, Chief Coroner Jacqueline Devonish heard brief details of the death before adjourning the inquest until September.
Coroner’s DI Darren Reid said an inquest was requested into the death of the infants, known as C, E, I, O and P, as there was “reason to suspect that the death was unnatural” at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Levy, 36, is serving 15 life sentences after being found guilty of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others in the year to June 2016.
A former neonatal nurse from Hereford maintains she is innocent and that inadequate care and understaffing resulted in the infant’s death or critical condition. Under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, the results of a coroner’s inquest must not conflict with a murder conviction in a criminal proceeding.
At a hearing in Warrington last week, Levy’s barrister Mark McDonald said the law meant the inquest was “not the place to re-litigate a conviction”. But he said it was important for coroners to understand how each baby died and whether there were “systemic deficiencies” at the hospital.
Speaking on behalf of many of the families, Richard Baker KC told a hearing last week that the inquest should not be used as a “collateral attack on the conviction”.
He said coroners are “bound by these beliefs and cannot act inconsistently with them.”
Devonish told the barrister: “At this point, the criminal court verdict has determined how the infant died. If there is an appeal, the matter can be revisited at this point.”
On Wednesday, the coroner announced that five inquests would be adjourned pending the outcome of a public inquiry by Judge Kathryn Thirlwall, who will investigate the deaths and publish her report in the coming months.
Tentative dates for the full inquest have been set for September 14-25, with an internal review set for May 5.
The inquest into the death of a sixth baby, Child D, which was originally started and suspended in 2016, was further suspended on Wednesday.
An inquest into the death of a seventh newborn, Baby A, was held in October 2016, and it was recorded that it was not possible to determine the cause of the child’s collapse and subsequent death, or whether it was due to natural or unnatural events. Baby A’s family does not want the autopsy to be resumed.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, has been investigating the conviction since February last year.
Levy twice tried unsuccessfully to have his conviction overturned at London’s Court of Appeal.
Prosecutors announced last month that Mr Levy would not face further charges after reviewing a file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was considering 11 new offenses. There were two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder related to the two infants who died, and seven counts of attempted murder related to the seven infants who survived.
The new charges include the murder of an infant at the Countess of Chester Hospital and the murder of an infant at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
However, the CPS said the evidence did not meet the tests required for new charges.
Cheshire Police are continuing to investigate three former senior bosses of the Countess of Chester who were arrested on suspicion of corporate manslaughter or gross negligence causing death last year.