Dewi Evans

Early life and education

Evans was bought up as a native Welsh speaker,

Consultant paediatrician

From 1980 to 2009, he held the post of full-time clinical consultant paediatrician at the Morriston and Singleton Hospitals in Swansea, both managed by Bwrdd lechyd Prifyshgol Bae Aberawe and part of GIG Cymru, where he led the development of neonatal intensive care services and maternity services.

After a drawn-out process of "trial by ambush", as the solicitors for the plaintiff described it, they were able to win a substantial settlement for the family. Following this case, as word of mouth spread, Evans found himself on the register of expert witnesses, and in demand. He ultimately "prepared more than 500 medico-legal reports", for the courts, and has given evidence in court in all three of the United Kingdom's legal systems. and appeared regularly in the civil and criminal courts for both the defence and prosecution during the following four decades. clinical negligence, and professional negligence.

In February 2023, he stopped taking new cases. This was almost 50 years after obtaining his first post in paediatrics. He considers his first and last cases to have been his most challenging.

Letby's trial opened on 10 October 2022 and Evans remained lead expert witness during the ten-month proceedings, which are thought to be the longest murder trial in British history. Supporting expert testimony was delivered by consultant pathologist Andreas Marnerides, professors of radiology Owen Arthurs and Stavros Stivaros, professor of haematology Sally Kinsey, professor of endocrinology Peter Hindmarsh, and consultant paediatrician Simon Kenney.

Evans' conclusions were peer-reviewed by Sandie Bohin a practising consultant neonatologist from Guernsey , at the request of Cheshire Police. Her role, was to "to provide a robust clinical review of Evans’ opinions, setting out whether she agreed or disagreed with him and, as appropriate, to provide an alternative causation for the collapse". Some parents of the deceased children have reacted with anger to their criticisms and perceived grandstanding .

Motion to rule further evidence inadmissible

On 9 January 2023 which requires such matters to be dealt with before the trial commences. The matter was also subject to 'Count 1' of the appeal. In the final appeal judgement

Allegations Evans changed his mind about cause of death

In December 2024, after the final appeal had been issued and the judicial case permanently closed, Lucy Letby's barrister Mark McDonald, while conducting a press conference, claimed that "Remarkably, Evans has now changed his mind on the cause of death of three of the babies: Baby C, Baby I and Baby P." further claiming that this was contained in a report delivered to police, and "despite numerous requests" [that the prosecution had] "yet to give this report to the defence". He went on to claim he would seek to appeal Letby's convictions on the grounds that the expert evidence was flawed; no application to the Court of Appeal was forthcoming, and no document has emerged.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the Court of Appeal had previously rejected Letby's argument that expert witness evidence presented by the prosecution had been "flawed". Evans described the allegation as "remarkable, baseless, and incorrect".

Dunne v National Maternity Hospital

Dunne v National Maternity Hospital was a legal case from Ireland, heard in the Supreme Court of Ireland in Dublin.

Catherine Dunne presented to the National Maternity Hospital on 20 March 1982; she was pregnant with twins, and had gone into labour two weeks ahead of her estimated date of delivery. It was the routine practice in that hospital at the time to only monitor the heart rate of one of the two twins during labour in a multiple pregnancy, on the assumption that one twin's heart beat was a reliable proxy for the other. The first twin was born naturally six hours after Dunne arrived at the hospital, but shortly afterwards the second twin was born dead with signs of skin maceration. Over subsequent days, it became clear that the first twin had sustained severe brain damage, resulting in an irreversible quadriplegia and mental handicap.

The case had a significant influence on Irish tort law, in that it laid down the six core rules for assessing medical negligence. This was also the first case in which Evans' provided medico-legal evidence. Medical experts, including Evans, were able to identify 53 separate injuries to the young child along with a pattern of abuse in the days leading up to the boy's death. Evans told the court "he thought the injuries pointed to Reggie being “hurled by the leg” and his head “smashed against a hard surface” shortly before dying." Phillips was convicted and sentenced to 15 years for murder, and Skinner 30 months for neglect.

Death of Lindsay Angela Alvarez In 2009, Lindsay Angela Alvarez from Dundonald, County Down was admitted to hospital with brain swelling. She later died from the complications of Hypernatremia. An Inquest into the death was held in 2014. Dr Duncan Coulthard, a sodium expert , told the inquest he believed the girl had been forced to eat between five and seven teaspoons of salt; equivalent to the amount in 10 hamburgers. He said, "I can't accept the possibility she took it voluntarily.".

Evans was called as an expert witness and stated to the inquest that it was unusual for a child to get fractured ribs and that he couldn't rule out that she might have been thrown down the stairs, he added, he would have expected other injuries "such as a cut lip, a fractured wrist and bruising to the shoulder" from an accidental fall. The inquest had previously been told that the child had fallen down carpeted stairs in her uncle's flat two weeks prior to her death. The inquest was halted, and a report was sent to Public Prosecution Service because the coroner suspected a crime had been committed, based on the evidence presented to the inquest.

The Public Prosecution Service ruled out criminal prosecution in 2015 because a clear suspect could not be identified, and the inquest was brought to a close despite the concerns of many involved.

Appeal in the removal of children from parental care In 2015, the High Court of Appeal, Northern Ireland heard an appeal relating to the Family Court where two children had been judged to have been the subject of non-accidental injury in Care Proceedings and removed from the care of their parents. Evans had been one of the expert witnesses. The appeal was upheld.

Death of a five-month-old baby Evans was an expert witness in the 2021 murder trial of a man later convicted of killing his five-month-old daughter, being able to rule out pneumonia as a potential cause of death in favour of a blunt force brain injury.

Lucy Rebecca Crawford death

On April 12, 2000 17-month-old Lucy Crawford was admitted to Erne Hospital with vomiting and dehydration, after being placed on a drip she suffered a seizure, was placed in intensive care, and then transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where she subsequently died from Hyponatraemia.

An inquest subsequently found her death was caused by the mismanagement of the drip she had been placed on by consultant paediatrician Jarlath O'Donohoe, and had been his responsibility to manage. In 2009, Evans appeared as a witness to a General Medical Council hearing regarding 'fitness to practice' of O'Donohoe.

Crawford's case became one of five cases at the centre of a public inquiry into hyponatraemia-related deaths in Northern Ireland, to which Evans was called upon to provide expert evidence.

Evans was one of a number of candidates for national chair of Plaid Cymru in 2019. He also represented the party for Senedd Cymru in Swansea East in 2003, and at the 1991 Neath Parliamentary By-Election.