Lucy Letby’s secret ‘boyfriend,’ flirty texts with married doctor and love letter exposed

Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit, but to most people she met, she seemed like a normal woman with a good job and an active social life

Lucy Letby will spend the rest of her life behind bars after being found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more, but doubts about her guilt still linger in some circles.

The killer nurse failed in her attempt to overturn her convictions earlier this year, where she was also found guilty of attempting to murder another infant, known only as Baby K. Despite behind handed 15 life sentences, Letby, 35, still insists she’s innocent.

Tonight, Channel 4 will air documentary Lucy Letby: Murder or Mistake. The series will cover both side of Letby’s case. Letby has been convicted by a court of law, with evidence, considered by a jury. Her barrister wants to have that overturned, however, as he believes there has been a miscarriage of justice.

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Ever since Letby was convicted of the murders there has been a campaign to set her free, with discussion forums online and people holding placards proclaiming her innocence outside Royal Courts of Justice.

It has led Peter Skelton, the KC representing some of the families of Letby’s victims, to describe the campaign as run by “conspiracists” while it is “grossly offensive and distressing” for the families.

And one mum, whose baby the former nurse tried to kill, has also weighed in on how upsetting she finds the topic. “What more was it going to take for people to realise that she’s not innocent?” said the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Speaking to The Times she said: “You don’t want to see her face, you don’t want to hear her name, you don’t want to hear people shouting that she’s innocent. She’s not innocent, she was found guilty in a court of law.”

As Letby’s case is plunged back into the spotlight, we look at what her life was like behind closed doors before her horrific crimes came to light.

Before being locked up, Lucy has a busy social calendar filled with gatherings with friends and dates with her so-called “crush”. To outsiders and even those close to her, she led a seemingly normal life, described as “goofy” and “kind” by her mates.

Amongst her workmates, she was known as the “quiet geek”. She had a respectable job and a vibrant social life, but as the lengthy trial revealed, Letby was concealing an unimaginable dark side.

Her childhood mate Dawn, who insisted that the accusations against her friend were the “most out of character that you could ever put against Lucy”, said Letby had always dreamt of becoming a nurse, grateful to those who helped her survive her own challenging birth.

While Letby was career-focused, boyfriends didn’t seem to play a significant role in her early 20s. However, during her extensive 10-month trial, the unmarried Letby claimed she did have a secret boyfriend while defending herself against allegations of having an affair with a married doctor on the ward.

During the trial at Manchester Crown Court, it was suggested that Letby killed two premature triplets within less than 24 hours to gain the attention of the doctor, referred to as Dr A, whom she had a “crush” on.

The hospital doctor, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, exchanged supportive text messages with Letby following the deaths. The prosecution alleged their relationship extended far beyond professional boundaries.

Following her removal from the ward, the pair continued meeting outside work for coffee dates, restaurant meals, shopping excursions, and visits to her home where she lived by herself.

Prosecutors branded him her ‘boyfriend’, though Letby maintained: “I loved him as a friend. I was not in love with him.”

The court heard they exchanged messages both at work and home, while her nursing colleagues ribbed her about flirting with him. In one text presented to jurors, Letby mentioned receiving a “strange message” from the doctor.

Her colleague responded: “Did you? Saying what? Go Commando (laughing face emoji).”

Letby replied with four laughing face emojis, yet when questioned during her trial, she claimed ignorance of what “go commando” meant. In another message, Letby protested: “I don’t flirt with him! Certainly, don’t fancy him ha ha just a nice guy.”

At one point, the court examined a document detailing her social activities during the killing spree. It revealed she and Dr A had travelled to London together for the day, with messages between them showing love heart emojis as they arranged to meet. However, during the questioning, she seemed to let slip that she had a “boyfriend”.

“[Colleague] was a married man, it’s not a relationship at all it’s a friendship,” she stated, before confessing that she did have a boyfriend at this time. It wasn’t clarified if this was the same person and no previous partners were brought up during the trial.

Letby claimed her relationship with Dr A, whom she affectionately referred to as ‘sweetie’ in messages, “fizzled out” at the beginning of 2018. Yet, there was no hiding her emotions when the man appeared in court to testify against her, with Letby visibly upset for the first time during the trial.

She attempted to leave the dock, claiming to feel “unwell”, but prosecutor Nick Johnson retorted: “No, it’s because you didn’t like hearing your boyfriend giving evidence, did you?”.

In social media messages, Letby told the doctor he was a “man of many talents”. On her first day back at work after a holiday in Ibiza, she wrote “boo” upon discovering that he wouldn’t be there working alongside her.

Later that day, Child O collapsed and Letby called for Dr A’s assistance. Prosecutor Mr Johnson questioned her: “Did you want to get his attention?”, which she denied.

The following day, Child P collapsed while Letby was on duty and Dr A once 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 responded: “No, Dr A and I were friends.”

When another medical professional voiced concerns after a baby fell ill, Letby sought comfort from Dr A. He messaged her saying: “No more doubt, it is not you, it is the babies.”

He added: “You are one of a few nurses in the region (I’ve worked pretty much everywhere) that I would trust with my own children.”

Her obsession became clear after her arrest when police discovered a note in her home bearing the name of Dr A and the phrases: “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 August 2023, Letby was convicted of seven counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder during her reign of terror at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

Last year, she was also found guilty of attempting to murder another infant, known only as Baby K.

She intentionally harmed the innocent infants in various ways, including: injecting air intravenously and administering air and/or milk into the stomach via nasogastric tubes, adding insulin as a poison to intravenous feeds, tampering with breathing tubes and causing trauma in some cases.

On August 21, 2023, she was handed a whole life order – making her the fourth female criminal in British history to be given no chance of parole.

Whole-life orders represent the most severe punishment available in the country’s criminal justice system and are reserved for those who commit the most atrocious crimes.