LUCY LETBY MESSAGED DR. MARK DEAKIN ABOUT BABY N — BUT ONE QUESTION SHE ASKED THE DOCTOR NOW HAS A MUCH DARKER MEANING

Lucy Letby sent Dr. Mark Deakin a message about Baby N after the infant suffered a serious deterioration.

At the time, it appeared to be a conversation between two medical colleagues.

Years later, however, the message was examined in a very different context.

Letby asked the consultant paediatrician about Baby N’s condition — and then asked whether she had done anything wrong while caring for the baby.

Deakin reassured her.

He told her that Baby N had received the best care possible and that she had done everything she could for him.

But when Deakin later gave evidence to the Thirlwall Inquiry, he acknowledged that the exchange was inappropriate in hindsight.

And the details of that conversation have now taken on renewed significance following the revelation of Deakin’s identity.

THE BABY AT THE CENTER OF THE MESSAGE

Baby N was one of the infants involved in the criminal case against Letby.

She was convicted of attempting to murder Baby N following a series of sudden deteriorations involving the infant in June 2016.

Letby has consistently denied murdering or attempting to murder the babies for which she was convicted.

Her convictions remain in place, although her case is currently subject to further review.

During the period when Baby N was being treated, Letby was working alongside Dr. Deakin at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The two had become unusually close.

Later evidence revealed that they exchanged more than 1,300 Facebook messages during a period of just several months in 2016.

THEN CAME THE QUESTION

The message about Baby N was not simply a routine request for a medical update.

According to evidence heard by the inquiry, Letby asked Deakin about the baby’s condition and questioned whether she had done anything wrong in relation to his care.

Deakin responded by reassuring her.

He told her that the baby had received the best care possible and that she would have done everything she could for him.

At the time, Deakin said he was trying to support a colleague he believed was struggling.

But when questioned years later, he acknowledged that he had shared too much information.

Asked whether the exchange had been appropriate, Deakin said:

“In hindsight, no.”

He also said he believed he had been misled and possibly manipulated by Letby.

A RELATIONSHIP THAT WOULD LATER COME UNDER SCRUTINY

The Baby N messages were only part of a much larger relationship between the two.

Deakin had worked with Letby at the Countess of Chester Hospital and later moved to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

After Letby was removed from clinical duties at the Countess amid concerns raised by senior consultants, Deakin helped arrange several observational visits for her at Alder Hey.

The visits took place in December 2016.

By that stage, Letby was no longer working directly with patients at the Countess.

The Thirlwall Inquiry later examined why Deakin had helped facilitate those visits and what he knew about concerns surrounding Letby at the time.

HE LATER SAID HE REGRETTED IT

Deakin told the inquiry that he had not been aware of the full clinical picture surrounding the babies who had deteriorated.

He said he had offered Letby support because he believed she was experiencing anxiety and mental-health difficulties.

But with the benefit of hindsight, he said he believed he had been misled.

The inquiry heard that his relationship with Letby had become very close and that their messages ranged from ordinary personal conversations to discussions involving confidential information about babies.

A subsequent Alder Hey investigation concluded that Deakin had breached Baby N’s confidentiality.

He was dismissed from the hospital for gross misconduct in June 2026.

THE DOCTOR ONCE KNOWN ONLY AS “DR A”

During Letby’s criminal trial, Deakin’s identity was protected and he was referred to as Dr A.

That anonymity order was lifted in September 2026 following his death.

Deakin, 53, was a married father of two.

He had been found unconscious in his car on June 24, one day after being dismissed by Alder Hey. He later died in hospital.

An inquest into his death is ongoing, and his death should not be assumed to have been caused by any particular circumstance without evidence establishing that.

WHY THE OLD MESSAGE MATTERS NOW

The significance of the Baby N exchange lies not simply in the question Letby asked.

It is the context surrounding it.

At the time, she was asking a doctor she trusted whether she had done anything wrong.

Today, that same question is being viewed alongside the evidence that led to her conviction for attempting to murder Baby N.

That does not, by itself, establish what Letby intended when she sent the message.

But it has become one of the most striking examples of how ordinary workplace conversations from 2016 acquired an entirely different meaning after the investigation into the Countess of Chester Hospital.

And Dr. Deakin’s own words to the inquiry were striking.

He accepted that, in hindsight, he had shared information he should not have shared.

He also said he had regrets about how that period unfolded.

For investigators, lawyers and the families affected by the case, the message is now part of a much larger story — one involving a close professional relationship, confidential patient information and a series of events that ultimately led to one of Britain’s most notorious criminal cases involving a healthcare worker.

The question Letby asked in 2016 was simple: Had she done anything wrong?

Years later, the circumstances surrounding that question would become anything but simple.