Questions unanswered - Inquiry offers insights - but may be missing crucial issues

During the two criminal trials of the nurse Lucy Letby, jurors were given a huge volume of complex evidence including tens of thousands of pages of medical notes, swipecard data, witness testimony, Facebook messages and more.

- Josh Halliday

Letby, now 34, was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder another seven on the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England.

Those convictions are now the subject of intense debate.

Some experts have questioned the medical science and other evidence used in the trials. Yet four of Britain's most senior judges have ruled there are - at present - no grounds for appeal. A fresh legal challenge is being prepared by Letby's new barrister.

As concerns surrounding the convictions grow, a public inquiry is examining the events surrounding the spike in premature baby deaths at the hospital. It is not engaging with the question of whether the nurse is guilty in the first place.

Over the course of five weeks at Liverpool town hall, the inquiry under Lady Justice Thirlwall has uncovered new details about Letby, the neonatal unit on which she worked, and the shocking experiences of the bereaved families at the heart of this scandal.

For some, this new evidence - most of which was not heard during the criminal trials - will help explain how this young university-educated nurse was able, in the words of one detective, to "operate in plain sight".

To others, it may strengthen their belief that these tragic events had a more innocent explanation.

Here is what we have learned so far from the inquiry.

Letby's character
Jurors who sat through Letby's original 10-month trial were given only glimpses of her personality in the dock. None of her family, friends or colleagues who had stood by her took to the witness box to give evidence in her defence, so it was Letby herself who had to paint the picture. Her 14 days of testimony left many in court with more questions than answers.