A married doctor who grew close to convicted serial killer Lucy Letby died after being sacked for exchanging messages with her about a baby she tried to murder, it is claimed.
The 53-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was reportedly found collapsed in his car after his dismissal from an NHS hospital where he worked as a consultant doctor. He was rushed to intensive care but died nine days later on July 3, it is reported.
Disciplinary hearing and dismissal
His sudden death came after he was hauled before a disciplinary hearing in June over a series of inappropriate texts he sent the former neo-natal nurse while they worked together at the Countess of Chester Hospital, it is reported. The messages are said to have breached patient confidentiality and involved details of the care of a premature baby boy with haemophilia, known only as Baby N, who Letby was convicted of trying to kill the day after he was born in June 2016.
The doctor also faced other serious allegations of inappropriately accessing medical records and risking patient safety, the Daily Mail reported on Friday night. An inquest is due to open into his death at a date yet to be fixed. Sources are said to have told the paper that he had attended a three-day disciplinary hearing and was fired for gross misconduct on June 23.
Collapse and death
The following day, relatives reported him missing and he was later found collapsed in his car at a retail park, around 20 miles from his Cheshire home. He never regained consciousness, and died on July 3 at Whiston Hospital in Merseyside. The cause of his death is not yet known but has been referred to the Cheshire Coroner, who confirmed 'preliminary inquiries' had begun, the Mail reported.
Letby was forced to deny she was having a romantic affair with the medic – referred to as 'Dr A' – during her 10-month murder trial in 2023. Prosecutors referred to him as Letby's "boyfriend", and said she was infatuated with him and "love" in notes found at her home. The married medic worked with Letby at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2016, two years before she was first arrested.
Relationship and inquiry
The pair swapped more than 1,300 Facebook messages. They also exchanged more flirty messages about their private lives, sometimes late at night, met up for walks and meals and went on day trips to London together in their free time away from work. Letby claimed they were just "best friends", but she broke down in tears and tried to leave the dock when he entered the courtroom at Manchester Crown Court to give evidence.
The doctor later moved to work at a different hospital and had been ill before his death last month, it was previously reported. At 2024's Thirlwall Inquiry the doctor said he had been "maybe manipulated" by Letby, who was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven more at the Countess of Chester Hospital. She is serving a whole-life order.
