A doctor told the Lucy Letby inquiry that the nurse “misled and maybe manipulated” him into giving her information about the babies who died.
The then-junior doctor at the hospital swapped 1,355 Facebook messages with Letby in a three-month period when they worked together between June 2016 and September 2016, the Thirlwall Inquiry heard on Monday.
The former neo-natal nurse was convicted of murdering seven babies and the attempted murder of seven others at the Countess of Chester Hospital in a one-year “killing spree” between June 2015 and June 2016.
The registrar said that he frequently “reassured” Letby in messages over her care of three infants in June 2016—a boy she was found guilty of attempting to murder and two brothers from a set of triplets who she was convicted of murdering.
Letby Seemed ‘Anxious’
Asked by counsel to the inquiry, Rachel Langdale, KC, to explain the frequent Facebook messages, the doctor replied: “Letby was struggling with her mental health and I think I picked up on that and offered some support, and that support it grew, and I understood that she slept very, very poorly because of worry and anxiety.“There were often messages that were passed throughout the day and sometimes later at night and early in the morning.”
One such message was Letby inquiring about the condition of Child N, an infant she was convicted of attempting to murder in early June 2016, and querying with the medic, referred to as Dr. U, whether she had done anything wrong.
The inquiry heard Dr. U messaged back: “Oh Lucy, poor little thing. I am sure he has had the best care possible and you will have done everything you could for him.”
Langdale said: “Do you think it was appropriate to be messaging about Child N with her at this time?”
Dr. U replied: “In hindsight, no. Looking at the content of the messaging here, I have shared too much. It is common to give updates and how patients are without naming them or giving lots of clinical detail.
“I gave details at the time that I thought were helpful but I see now that was probably not the case.”
Following the deaths of Child O and P later that month, a consultant raised about the triplets’ care, prompting Letby to message Dr. U: “Do I need to be worried?”
‘Hindsight’
Langdale said, “Well, she was worried if people were asking questions about it, wasn’t she?”Dr. U said: “In hindsight, yes obviously,“ before telling the lawyer he had mistaken Letby’s behaviour for ”anxiety.”
Asked why he forwarded Letby an email from neonatal lead, Dr. Stephen Brearey, in which he indicated Child O and P’s deaths would be investigated at inquests, Dr U replied: “It was because of the worry about those two babies. They were unexpected deaths. She gave me the impression she was very upset … I was basically trying to give her some insight into what was going on.”
“Again in hindsight, that was an error on my part. I should not have sent it.”
He added that, on reflection, the messages looked more of “panic about the events that had taken place and her role in them.”
Langdale said, “And needing information from you about babies and how they might have died?”
Dr. U replied: “It felt like a supportive gesture. That now feels like a mistake. It is something I have considered on a daily basis for the last six to eight years.”
He went on: “I think I have become aware that I was not aware of the full clinical picture and I provided support by being misled and maybe manipulated, and for that I’m really sorry that things have come to an end as they have.
“I have a lot of regrets over how that period of time took place.”
Dr. U told the inquiry he did not suspect deliberate harm had been caused to Child O and P.
He said he attended a mortality review meeting which followed on July 5. 2016, but was only present for the beginning and he “presumed” that references to Letby’s presence and her potential involvement with the numerous deaths and collapses took place after he left.
The inquiry heard that Dr. U emailed bosses at Alder Hey in December 2016 to say Letby had an interest in the care of post-operative babies to “facilitate her personal development” and also to observe some theatre sessions.
Dr. U said he was told it was approved by whoever was managing Letby at the Countess of Chester on the basis that she must be supervised at all times and have no direct contact with patients.
‘Just Friends’
During her trial, Letby denied she was in love with Dr. U and said they were “just friends.”Letby has always maintained her innocence, and while there is a growing clamour from some experts to re-examine the case against her, the role of the Thirlwall Inquiry is not to appraise the verdict of the court, but to look at the surrounding events, such as the role of the hospital trust and how staff concerns were handled.
More than 100 days of complex medical evidence was heard during Letby’s first trial, which ended in August 2023. Experts have raised concerns about the jury’s ability to fully understand its complexity, while some academics have spoken out about the dangers of using statistical probability as a factor in determining guilt.
Letby is serving 15 whole-life terms and four judges have dismissed her attempt to appeal these convictions.
Her new lawyer, Mark McDonald, recently told the BBC he plans to take her case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates alleged miscarriages of justice.
The inquiry is expected to sit at Liverpool Town Hall until early next year, with findings published by late autumn 2025.
