CCRC staff accuse former chair of ‘insensitive’ memos and incumbent chief executive of having ‘finger off the pulse’

• CCRC chief spent public funds on luxury hotels for business courses in France

For the wrongfully convicted, watching the years disappear from a prison cell, the miscarriage of justice watchdog represents their final hope. But some staff at the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) say its leaders appear divorced from that reality, using public money for executive training retreats in France and networking over fine wine and steak.

The CCRC is in the spotlight again as it is due to consider a dossier of new expert evidence in the Lucy Letby case. While it faces a decision in one of the most high-profile potential miscarriages of justice in decades, its leadership is in a state of disarray.