RCPCH publishes updated guidance on expert evidence in neonatal-death prosecutions

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health publishes updated guidance for paediatric experts instructed in criminal proceedings involving neonatal deaths. The guidance — drafted in light of post-2024 commentary on the Letby case and earlier wrongful-conviction precedents — emphasises confirmatory testing for biochemical evidence, the requirement to consider all natural-cause differentials, and conflict-of-interest disclosure where the same expert advises both clinical investigation and prosecution. The document does not name any individual case but is widely understood to respond to the post-trial Letby record.