Lucy Letby has appointed barrister Anton van Dellen to represent her at future coroner's court hearings into the deaths of her victims, according to reports. Van Dellen, a qualified doctor and surgeon who no longer practices medicine after removing himself from the medical register in May 2010, was acquitted in November 2012 at Basildon Crown Court of one charge of meeting a child under 16 after sexual grooming, sources say. A letter sent by Letby's defence team to a coroner, which included the babies' full names, was leaked to a Sunday newspaper, despite strict reporting restrictions imposed by a High Court judge that forbid the publication of the identities of any of the babies involved in the case.
At a pre-inquest hearing last month, coroner Jacqueline Devonish questioned how the Sunday Times had obtained the leaked letter and suggested to Mark McDonald that whoever sent the letter to the newspaper had been reckless, according to reports. Richard Baker KC, representing the families, said his clients had been extremely distressed to learn their babies' names had been recklessly disclosed to a third party. Mark McDonald, Letby's barrister, has been reported to the Bar Standards Board for alleged professional misconduct in connection with the leak, sources indicate.
There's been no professional misconduct.
McDonald insisted there had been no professional misconduct and that neither he nor his solicitors had sent the letter to anyone other than the coroner. According to the Daily Mail, Mark McDonald described being unaware of any complaint made against him to the Bar Standards Board. A spokesman for the Bar Standards Board said it does not comment on whether information about potential misconduct has been made against an individual barrister, but a source said preliminary investigations by the Bar Standards Board are underway regarding the complaint against McDonald.
Inquests into the deaths of five of Letby's victims were opened and adjourned last month, with coroner Jacqueline Devonish warning Mark McDonald against any further leaks, saying she would report it to regulatory authorities otherwise.
As far as the families are concerned those names are not to be bandied about.
Otherwise I will report (it) to the regulatory authorities.
I am unaware of any complaint made against me to the Bar Standards Board.