An email written by one of the prosecution’s star witnesses against Lucy Letby appears to contradict the evidence he gave in court over the death of a baby girl. The previously undisclosed document — only revealed after Letby’s sentencing — could significantly bolster her legal team’s efforts to overturn her convictions. Dr Ravi Jayaram, a consultant paediatrician, was the only medical witness at Letby’s trials who directly linked her actions to the death of a baby. He told jurors that she failed to raise the alarm as Baby K deteriorated, claiming she stood silently by the infant’s cot while her condition worsened. But an email sent by Dr Jayaram to colleagues at the Countess of Chester Hospital on 4 May 2017 appears to contradict this. In it, he wrote that Letby had alerted him to the baby’s deteriorating condition and attributed the death to complications arising from extreme prematurity. The message, seen by the website UnHerd, reads: “At time of deterioration... Staff nurse Letby at incubator and called Dr Jayaram to inform of low saturations. “Baby subsequently deteriorated and eventually died, but events around this would fit with explainable events associated with extreme prematurity.” Letby was moved to clerical duties ten months after the email, following concerns raised by Dr Jayaram and other clinicians about her conduct. She later filed a grievance for bullying and harassment — which was upheld. However, the final report submitted by the consultants to police contained no reference to the 2017 email or Dr Jayaram’s account that Letby had called for help. Nor did it mention his earlier belief that the baby’s death was linked to her extreme prematurity. During Letby’s trial, prosecutors used Dr Jayaram’s testimony to support claims that she was caught “virtually red-handed” and had deliberately dislodged Baby K’s breathing tube. In August 2023, Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others. The jury was unable to reach a verdict in Baby K’s case, along with four other counts. A retrial held in June 2024 focused specifically on Baby K’s death. Letby, 35, of Hereford, was convicted of attempted murder. She is now serving 15 whole-life orders for the deaths and attempted killings of infants between 2015 and 2016. During the retrial, Dr Jayaram testified: “Lucy Letby was stood next to the incubator. She wasn't looking at me. She didn't have her hands in the incubator.” When asked by prosecutor Nick Johnson KC whether Letby had called for help, he replied: “No, not at all... I was surprised that the alarm was not going off, although my priority was (Baby K) and I didn't question it at the time. “In retrospect, I was surprised that help was not called, given (Baby K) was a 25-week gestation baby and her saturations were dropping.” Dr Jayaram’s 2017 email was not disclosed to Letby’s defence team until August 2023 — a month after her conviction for attempting to murder Baby K. The email has since come to light as part of evidence reviewed by the Thirlwall Inquiry, which is examining events at the Countess of Chester Hospital — though the inquiry operates on the presumption of Letby’s guilt. Dr Jayaram has appeared before the inquiry and expressed regret over not acting sooner, saying: “I lie awake thinking about this... I should have been braver.” Since Letby’s conviction, several medical professionals have criticised the way the prosecution's case was handled. Earlier this month, her barrister Mark McDonald submitted a 698-page report to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), compiled by 14 international neonatal experts led by Dr Shoo Lee. The report concluded: “There was no medical evidence to support malfeasance causing death or injury in any of the 17 cases in the trial.” Mr McDonald, who is representing Letby pro bono, said: “Lucy Letby is currently serving 15 whole life terms in prison, when overwhelming independent expert evidence indicates that no babies were murdered.”