Letby's haunting reaction to text messages sent to mystery doctor 'boyfriend'

20 September 2023 , 07:00

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Letby's haunting reaction to text messages sent to mystery doctor 'boyfriend'

During her campaign of terror from June 2015 to 2016, evil neonatal nurse Lucy Letby preyed on vulnerable babies by injecting them with air, force-feeding them milk and poisoning them with insulin - all the while contacting a male doctor whom she allegedly had a "crush" on for support.

The hospital medic known as Doctor A, who cannot be named for legal reasons, shared text messages with her following the deaths, and the prosecution suggested their relationship went beyond that of colleagues. Letby was said to have turned to Dr A in the aftermath of the killings, often looking for reassurance and praise.

She claimed her relationship with the medic, who she referred to as 'sweetie' by text, "fizzled out" at the start of 2018. But there was no denying her emotions when the man appeared in court to give evidence against her, with Letby visibly distressed for the first time during her trial. She tried to leave the dock, claiming to feel "unwell", but Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC replied: "No, it's because you didn't like hearing your boyfriend giving evidence, did you?"

It is now believed the former NHS worker, who was sentenced to a whole-life order last month for murdering seven babies and trying to kill six, may have as many as 15 more victims, according to the expert witness who gave evidence against her in Manchester Crown Court. Dewi Evans, who spoke at her trial, has fresh suspicions about other patients which "need more scrutiny" and "will be liaising with Cheshire Police to bring those cases to their attention". He told MailOnline: "These babies had illnesses which were life-threatening and three of them died - but we need to look at them to see if they were placed in harm's way as well."

The NHS neonatal nurse was accused of killing babies to 'get the attention' of Doctor A, which she denied (Cheshire Constabulary via Getty)

When Dr A appeared in court, Letby became visibly distressed and tried to leave the dock, claiming to feel 'unwell' (MEN MEDIA)

Dr A was described by prosecutors as her 'boyfriend', though Letby insisted they were nothing more than friends. She denied that she wanted to impress him and manufactured crisis situations so they could work together. Letby told the jury: "I loved him as a friend. I was not in love with him. [Dr A] was a married man, it's not a relationship at all it's a friendship", before admitting she did have a boyfriend at this time. It wasn't made clear if this was the same person and no previous partners were mentioned during the trial.

Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him

In a note discovered in her home following her arrest, she named Dr A and wrote: "My best friend. Love, I loved you and I think you knew that. I trusted you with everything... I wanted you to stand by me but you didn't." In social media messages, Letby told the medic he was a 'man of many talents'. On her first day back at work after a holiday in Ibiza, she wrote 'boo' when she learned that he wouldn't be there working with her. Later that day, Child O collapsed and Letby called for Dr A's help.

Prosecutor Mr Johnson asked her: "Did you want to get his attention? Is that the reason you sabotaged Child O?", which she denied. The following day, Child P collapsed when Letby was on duty and Dr A again responded to the emergency crash call. Mr Johnson asked her: "Did you enjoy being in these crisis situations with Dr A. Did it give you something to talk about and message about?" Letby said: "No, [Dr A] and I were friends."

Just weeks after Letby murdered Child O and Child P, Dr A told her about details of a hospital meeting over their deaths. He messaged her to say: "You need to keep this to yourself. There is absolutely nothing for you to worry about. Please don't. There are going to be some recommendations based on staffing/kit but there was no criticism of either resus." He then shared an email confirming the deaths will go to an inquest. The following day, he asked Letby: "I know you won't say anything - this email has to stay between us, is that ok?", to which she responded: "Of course. 100 percent." One week later, all staff were sent an email that informed them they would undergo clinical supervision ahead of an external review into deaths at the unit.

The jury was also told the pair exchanged messages at work and at home, while her nursing colleagues teased her about flirting with Dr A. In one text, Letby had said she received a 'strange message' from the doctor. Her colleague said: "Did you? Saying what? Go Commando (laughing face emoji)." Letby replied with four laughing face emojis but when questioned during her trial, she denied knowing what 'go commando' meant.

In another message to a colleague, Letby protested: "I don't flirt with him! Certainly, don't fancy him ha ha just a nice guy." At one stage, the court was presented with a document citing examples of her social life during the period of the killings. It saw that she and Dr A had been to London together for the day, and messages between them showed a series of love heart emojis exchanged as they made plans to meet.

Nia Dalton