“Paul Brand’s exclusive interview with Dr Jayaram got closer to the story than any other coverage”
ITN for ITV1
ITV News committed significant time and resources to following the Lucy Letby case over an eleven-month period, and its coverage of the verdict was elevated by what the judges called “a compelling and definitive interview” with Dr Ravi Jayaram.
As a consultant paediatrician at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Dr Jayaram played a pivotal role in identifying Letby and was profoundly affected by the traumatic events he witnessed.
Journalist Paul Brand spent months cultivating a relationship with Dr Jayaram to secure the interview, in which the consultant candidly shares his anger at the hospital’s handling of the situation, while Brand draws upon detailed documents that underscore the repeated warnings about Letby’s conduct, which had been disregarded by hospital managers.
The interview also features a chilling account of Dr Jayaram witnessing Letby’s suspicious actions towards a baby.
While the programme as a whole was described as “a memorable piece of journalism” by the judges, it was Brand’s interview that stood out.
“Paul’s exclusive interview with Dr Jayaram got closer to the story than any other coverage,” said one judge, adding that it did so by “revealing his eyewitness account of Lucy’s crimes and evidencing the shocking and indefensible failure of the healthcare system”.
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