Netflix’s The Investigation of Lucy Letby takes viewers deep into one of the most harrowing and controversial criminal cases in recent British history: the prosecution, conviction, and ongoing scrutiny surrounding Lucy Letby. For those who are unaware, Letby is a former neonatal nurse jailed for the murder and attempted murder of vulnerable infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.
The documentary uses unseen footage, insider interviews, and expert commentary to reexamine the case and Letby’s ultimate conviction. In the documentary, Dr John Gibbs, a now-retired consultant pediatrician at the Countess of Chester Hospital, revealed how the infant deaths occurred at the hospital and peaked between June 2015 and June 2016.
This alarmed the hospital, and eventually, authorities got involved. While investigating, several avenues were explored, but what alerted Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes and others was that Letby was on duty in every unexplained infant death case. The investigation was named Operation Hummingbird, and several staff members of the hospital were interviewed.
However, as the documentary reveals, Letby got wind of the code word for the operation and wrote from her official NHS email to Hughes about the same, asking when she would be interviewed and if she could offer any help. This alerted the police, and they found it suspicious. Soon after, Lucy was arrested, the first time out of the three times she was arrested, in the early hours of the morning.
The Significance of the CCRC Review in the Final Moments
Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes in the documentary | Credits: Netflix
In the closing moments of The Investigation of Lucy Letby, attention turns toward a potential legal turning point: the review of the case by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).
The CCRC is an independent UK body that examines possible miscarriages of justice and can send cases back to the Court of Appeal if “new evidence” emerges that might affect the safety of a conviction. The documentary shows that Letby’s legal team, after failed appeal attempts, has submitted a review application to the CCRC that includes fresh expert analysis disputing key elements of the original medical evidence used at trial.
However, CPS carried out an investigation and reviewed additional allegations regarding the murder and attempted murder of more infants. But in January 2026, they concluded that the evidential test was not met in any of those cases and decided not to pursue further charges (via Reuters).
While the documentary does not predict the outcome, it underscores that the commission’s decision carries enormous weight, possibly influencing public perception.
Moreover, as detailed in the documentary and already reported in the news previously, in October 2023, the UK Government launched a public inquiry to examine the events at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Cheshire Constabulary also launched an investigation into corporate manslaughter, and three arrests were also made. The investigations are still ongoing.
What Happened After Lucy Letby’s Final Arrest?
Mark McDonald in the documentary | Credits: Netflix
Netflix’s documentary, The Investigation of Lucy Letby, includes powerful archival footage showing Letby’s multiple arrests during the course of Operation Hummingbird. These scenes are among the most harrowing parts of the film: police arriving at her family home in Hereford early one morning, Letby calmly responding to officers while still half-asleep, and her emotional farewells to family and even her cats before being led away in handcuffs.
After her final arrest in 2020, Letby was charged and formally put on trial, leading to a conviction and sentencing. The documentary’s ending reflects on how these arrests became foundational scenes in her legal saga and in the broader narrative around police methodology and evidence handling.
However, despite her arrest and eventual sentencing in 2023, the case was not closed. She faced a retrial on one of the six counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to another complete life-term in July 2024. Apart from the Crown Prosecution Service and the ongoing public enquiry by the UK Government, Letby appointed a new defence lawyer, Mark McDonald, in 2024.
Dr Shoo Lee’s Expert Opinion About the Infant Deaths
Dr Shoo Lee in the documentary | Credits: Netflix
After Lucy Letby appointed Mark McDonald, who was actually contacted by Letby’s parents to represent her, he filed new applications to the Court of Appeal and the Criminal Cases Review Commission (whose result we have already discussed above).
McDonald argued that Dewi Evans, who was the prosecution’s lead expert witness, was unreliable, given some evidence and emails McDonald found. He went on to contact Shoo Lee, a retired Neonatologist from the University of Toronto, whose research was cited by the prosecutors to support the claim that some of the infant deaths were deliberate. McDonald wanted to know whether Dr Lee’s paper was used in the right way or not.
This led to Dr Shoo Lee being involved as well, and he promptly took off to London. In the documentary, Lee stated:
I was worried, because if my paper had been misinterpreted, then we have got a big problem on our hands. I looked at the evidence and I realised that they did not describe the kind of skin discolouration that was diagnostic of air embolism. What they had described was skin discolouration due to hypoxia, or lack of oxygen. This means that the conviction was potentially wrong.
He then arranged a panel with several top experts from around the world who had the right expertise and wrote a detailed report about the causes of death and inquiry in each case. The panel went on to conclude that there was no medical evidence that suggested that babies had been murdered.
What the Final Interview Reveals About Her State of Mind
The Investigation of Lucy Letby is thematically divided into two parts. The first half deals with the circumstantial evidence and eventual conviction of the former neonatal nurse, while the second half deals with contradictions and alleged faults in the investigation.
In the second half, we see Letby’s lawyer talking about the many post-its and handwritten notes found in Letby’s home, which the court used as circumstantial evidence. The notes contained phrases like murderer, I am evil, etc. However, as her lawyer revealed, these notes also contain phrases such as I feel lonely and phrases that denote that she did not do it.
In the police interview featured in the documentary, when asked about the same, Letby said:
I just wrote it because everything had got on top of me. I felt like I’d only ever done my best for those babies and then people were trying to say that my practice wasn’t good, or that I’d done something and I just couldn’t cope.
She also added that she felt that she was to blame after being accused by the staff of the hospital, particularly some of the consultants, who she thought were trying to put the blame on her for something somebody else had done. In the letters she writes to her friend, Letby asserts that she will not give up hope. This explains the mental duress she was under during the investigation and after.
At the end, Dr John Gibbs, one of the consultants, remarked that while he doesn’t believe there was a miscarriage of justice, one couldn’t help but feel the doubt since no one actually saw her do it.
And that is where the documentary comes to an end. While the documentary might have ended, the case is currently under review, and there is a possibility we might see new truths come to light. What do you think?
The Investigation of Lucy Letby is streaming on Netflix now.
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