Lucy Letby’s relationship with married paediatrician Dr. Mark Deakin has become a renewed focus following the recent lifting of reporting restrictions that allowed his name to be publicly identified.

The pair exchanged more than 1,300 Facebook messages over several months in 2016. Letby described Deakin in affectionate terms in handwritten notes, while prosecutors during her trial portrayed him as a doctor she had become emotionally attached to. Both Letby and Deakin denied that they were romantically involved.

The relationship later came under further scrutiny during the Thirlwall Inquiry. Deakin said he had felt “misled” and possibly “manipulated” by Letby, a significant change from his earlier understanding of their friendship. He also gave evidence during Letby’s trial.

Deakin was later dismissed from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital following an investigation into communications between him and Letby. His name became public only after the court lifted the restrictions that had protected his idenтιтy during the original proceedings.

The story has attracted renewed attention because those thousands of messages offer a detailed look at a relationship that was interpreted very differently by the people involved and by investigators.

👀 So what changed Deakin’s understanding of the relationship — and what did those messages reveal about how closely the two had become connected?

Sources:

• The Times – Dr Mark Deakin named after reporting restrictions lifted