A doctor who was accused of being a “crush” of child serial killer nurse Lucy Letby has been named after reporting restrictions were lifted following his death two months ago.
Consultant paediatrician Dr Mark Deakin was granted lifelong anonymity ahead of giving evidence in Letby’s trial, where she was convicted of a string of murders and attempted murders of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
Reporting restrictions were lifted on Wednesday after the married father-of-two died in July aged 53.
The lifelong anonymity was lifted by Lord Justice Singh after an application by Associated Newspapers.
Letby, 36, broke down in tears and tried to exit the dock when Dr Deakin entered the witness box and answered questions from behind a screen.
Dr Deakin, then a junior doctor, swapped numerous messages with Letby when they worked together at the Countess of Chester.
A fellow nurse teased her about “flirting” with Dr Deakin, whom Letby called “sweetie” in text exchanges, the court heard.
His name appeared repeatedly on scrawled notes found at Letby’s home address following her arrest, including several references to “love was all we needed”.
The prosecution accused Letby of having a “crush” on the doctor and suggested she attacked some of her victims to get his attention.
Giving evidence, Letby said the pair would meet outside work but denied they were in a relationship and maintained Dr Deakin was merely a “trusted friend”.
In October 2024, Dr Deakin told the public inquiry into how Letby was able to commit her crimes that she had “misled and maybe manipulated” him into giving her information about her victims.
He swapped 1,355 Facebook messages with Letby in a three-month period when they worked together between June 2016 and September 2016.
In one message, Letby asked about the condition of Child N, an infant she attempted to murder in early June 2016, and asked Dr Deakin whether she had done anything wrong.
The inquiry heard Dr Deakin 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.”
Dr Deakin went on to support her grievance case against her removal from the neonatal unit to non-patient duties from July 2016 and also set up a number of “observational visits” to Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital the following year when he worked there as a locum consultant, the inquiry heard.
Child N’s mother later filed a complaint against Dr Deakin with Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, where he permanently moved to from the Countess of Chester, and alleged he had shared confidential information about her son with Letby.
Alder Hey also went on to investigate him over what he knew about Letby at the time of her visits to their hospital.
Dr Deakin was reportedly dismissed for gross misconduct on June 23 this year and was said later to have been found collapsed in his car at a retail park about 20 miles from his home in Cheshire.
He was rushed to hospital but died on July 3.
His death has been referred to Cheshire Coroner’s Court.
Alder Hey has been approached for comment.
Letby, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life terms for the murders of seven babies and attempting to kill seven more at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit.
She was twice denied permission to appeal against her convictions in 2024.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, is considering evidence presented on her behalf by an international panel of medics who claim poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the babies collapsing.
