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.
Letby's police interview record was presented as evidence of guilty knowledge and inconsistent accounts.
Independent review of the police interview transcripts identifies departures from the PEACE model standards governing investigative interviewing in England and Wales. The PEACE model (Planning, Engage, Account, Closure, Evaluate) requires open-ended questioning, a non-leading approach, and the recording of the interviewee's own account before any account is suggested. Specific instances of leading questions, suggested answers, and pre-interview disclosure of investigator hypotheses have been identified across multiple interview sessions. Interview methodology problems featured prominently in the wrongful-conviction overturning of Tom Hayes (LIBOR, Supreme Court 2025), Stefan Kiszko, Stephen Downing and others; the same methodological framework applies to evaluation of the Letby interview record.
PEACE-model interviewing requires the interviewee's own account to be recorded before any hypothesis is suggested. Departures from this principle in the Letby interviews are documented and are a recognised mechanism by which apparent inconsistencies are produced.
Excerpts from police interview transcripts were presented as evidence of inconsistent accounts and guilty knowledge. The PEACE-model framework against which the interview methodology should be assessed was not foregrounded.
The Panel does not opine on UK police-interview procedure. The methodological framework for assessing interview reliability is well established in the wrongful-conviction literature.