Neil Wilby Media

Just four days after refusing a freedom of information request concerning its media strategy during the Lucy Letby investigation, Cheshire Constabulary now faces a formal complaint over alleged breaches of Professional Standards by its senior officers.

Filed with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) earlier today (13th May 2025), the complaint alleges dishonest, evasive, and disreputable conduct by those who directed the refusal, which was issued on 8th May 2025 under the “vexatious request” exemption in Section 14(1) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). It can be read in full at this weblink.

The request had sought information surrounding a presentation delivered by Shelley Smith, a senior communications officer within Cheshire Constabulary, at a national police media training event held in March 2024. That presentation, titled The Lucy Letby Case (Operation Hummingbird), described the force’s communication approach during a case now under the microscope of a statutory public inquiry and subject to intensifying media and political scrutiny.

The FOIA request was submitted on 7th April 2025 via the WhatDoTheyKnow platform. It was refused exactly 20 working days later, at the statutory limit, absent of explanation for the delay, without a reference number, and with no engagement on any of the questions raised (read more here).

The Conduct Complaint

The complaint to the IOPC, which names Data Protection Advisor Emma Krzyzaniak as the issuing officer but focuses attention on unnamed senior officers in the force’s legal, communications, information governance, and command teams, alleges that the decision to withhold the requested material was not only legally flawed but ethically and professionally indefensible.

The key allegations include:

• A deliberate attempt to misuse Section 14(1) of the FOIA to shield the force from legitimate public interest scrutiny;
• A refusal issued without a FOIA reference number, a basic accountability and tracking requirement;
• A lack of explanation or evidence supporting the “vexatious” designation;
• Signs of internal coordination to avoid transparency during a period of heightened institutional sensitivity.

“This complaint is most definitely not about FOIA enforcement,” the filing states. “It is about how the police respond, as public servants, to lawful scrutiny.”

The complaint identifies three core breaches of the Standards of Professional Behaviour set out in the Police (Conduct) Regulations, 2020:

1. Honesty and Integrity: For allegedly issuing a misleading and opaque refusal.
2. Duties and Responsibilities: For allegedly failing to uphold public functions in a lawful and transparent manner.
3. Discreditable Conduct: For behaviour that risks undermining public confidence in policing.

Context: A Case That Divides the Nation

Lucy Letby was convicted in August 2023 of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital. The trial, which lasted eleven months, became one of the most high-profile in recent British legal history. A re-trial followed in 2024 on one remaining count at the conclusion of which the former neo-natal nurse was found guilty of attempting to murder Child K..

But, as reporting restrictions lifted and critical analyses of the prosecution case emerged in publications such as the New York Times, Daily Mail, and The Telegraph, a growing campaign has begun to question the safety of the convictions. Politicians including David Davis MP and former Cabinet minister Nadine Dorries have spoken publicly, and regularly, in support of Letby receiving a fresh appeal or review.

A statutory public inquiry, led by Lady Justice Thirlwall, is now completed and awaiting its final report, due in or around September 2025. 

In that climate, the way Cheshire Constabulary communicated its role throughout the investigation, codenamed Operation Hummingbird, has become a subject of acute public interest. The FOIA request submitted on 7th April 2025 by the author of this article, Neil Wilby, was intended to understand how that communication strategy was crafted, presented, and reflected upon within policing circles.

Pattern of Obstruction?

In support of the IOPC complaint, evidence has also been submitted showing that Cheshire Constabulary failed to respond to a series of media queries submitted by Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens. In an article published on 12th May 2025, Hitchens revealed that the force had blanked him after he sought details about a mid-trial press conference held on 30th June 2023 at Manchester Hall.

The event, attended by two of the lead officers in the Letby case, Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans and Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, took place before the jury had retired to consider verdicts and while Lucy Letby’s barrister was delivering his closing speech. According to the Press Association, the event was described as a press conference and embargoed until a guilty verdict was returned.

Peter Hitchens submitted eight follow-up questions to the force ahead of the publication of his article. None were answered. He described the refusal as emblematic of an institution “employing spin doctors and holding press conferences, to boast about how they have supposedly solved the few crimes they do bother with.”

The IOPC complaint references this episode as further evidence of a pattern of senior-led obfuscation and reputational management.

A Culture of Evasion?

The refusal to disclose information to both a journalist acting in the public interest and to a national commentator raises wider concerns about the culture within Cheshire Constabulary. As the complaint puts it:

“The handling of this request is symptomatic of a deeper institutional decay — one that sees public access rights not as a legal obligation, but as a reputational threat to be neutralised. That is a cultural issue. It is a leadership issue. And it is a police conduct issue.”

Observers will note that the force’s own Police and Crime Commissioner signed off a £2,000 payment for the hire of Manchester Hall during the Letby trial — a detail uncovered in published spending records. Yet neither the CPS nor the Letby defence team, led at trial by Benjamin Myers KC, appear to have been informed of the press conference that took place there. That event, too, now lies within the scope of mounting questions about the impartiality and transparency of police communications in high-stakes trials.

What Happens Next?

The IOPC is required to assess all complaints submitted under the Police Reform Act 2002 and determine whether the allegations require investigation at a local or independent level. While most complaints are passed back to the relevant force’s Professional Standards Department, those involving serious corruption, misconduct in public office, or reputational risk to policing nationally may be retained for independent investigation.

Given the involvement of senior officers, the public inquiry context, and the widespread press attention, it is argued that independent scrutiny is essential.

If the IOPC declines to investigate, the matter could still become a central theme in future legal, parliamentary, or judicial oversight forums, especially if further evidence of communications mismanagement emerges from a highly engaged, exceptionally resourceful, evidence-based group of Lucy Letby innocence campaigners who are shredding the reputation of Cheshire Constabulary on an almost daily basis. Prominent amongst those is another journalist, Cleuci de Oliveira.

Conclusion: A Test of Integrity

This is no longer just a question of whether a request for information was lawfully refused. It is a broader and more troubling enquiry into how public institutions respond when challenged.

The FOIA exists to ensure transparency. But it only functions when those empowered to uphold it do so in good faith. When that breaks down, it is not just the requester who suffers; it is the integrity of the system itself.

As Peter Hitchens wrote in his 12th May column:

“The unpleasant stench which rises from the unfair and dubious prosecution of the nurse Lucy Letby grows stronger and fouler by the day… The country cannot be clean until it is done, and Ms Letby gets the fair trial she was, in my view, denied.”

Now, as questions over the fairness of the trial persist, Cheshire Constabulary finds itself answering for something else: Its own conduct in how it manages those who dare to ask questions.

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Neil Wilby is a journalist, court reporter and transparency campaigner who has reported on police misconduct, regulatory failures, and criminal and civil justice since 2009. He is the founder and editor of Neil Wilby Media, launched in 2015.