May 2026: Thirlwall Inquiry report delayed to at least September 2026 · six-baby inquests relisted to 2027 · CCRC review active · Shoo Lee Panel: no medical evidence of deliberate harm.
The prosecution showed the jury that Letby had searched parents' names on Facebook after some deaths, presenting the pattern as evidence of a morbid or predatory interest.
Searching family social media after a serious ward event is common among nurses — it is how many trainees and senior nurses contextualise grief, check for safeguarding concerns, or verify names. Defence analysis showed the searches were spread across many more patients than those charged, and were not unusually time-clustered around deaths. Internal NHS guidance does not prohibit such searches. Without that base-rate context, the presentation at trial was selection bias.
The Facebook pattern cited at trial is consistent with ordinary grieving-nurse behaviour, not with predation.
A small number of named searches were highlighted. The much wider set of searches for many other families — including unrelated patients — was not emphasised.
Outside its medical remit; the Panel has not opined. Independent commentators have, consistently, characterised the searches as ordinary.