Lucy Letby’s ‘mystery lover’: How killer told court she couldn’t have been infatuated with a married doctor because she had a ‘house, a car, and a boyfriend’ – but no-one has ever identified him

Lucy Letby’s ‘mystery lover’: How killer told court she couldn’t have been infatuated with a married doctor because she had a ‘house, a car, and a boyfriend’ – but no-one has ever identified him By Rory Tingle, Home Affairs Correspondent For Mailonline Updated: 22:52, 22 August 2023 e-mail 125 shares 8 View comments Lucy Letby claimed she had a mystery boyfriend as she tried to dismiss allegations she had an affair with a married doctor on her unit. The NHS nurse has been exposed as Britain’s worst child serial killer of modern times and was yesterday sentenced to an unprecedented 14 whole life orders. During her trial, she was quizzed about her relationship with a consultant who became her ‘best friend’ when she was murdering babies at work.

Letby, 33, insisted they were ‘nothing more’ than ‘trusted’ friends and denied being ‘in love’ with the doctor, who applied for anonymity at the start of the trial. On one occasion Letby went to London with the doctor, and was due to go a second time before the trip was cancelled. The prosecution claimed her infatuation with the registrar was one of her motivations for harming babies, because she knew that when of them fell seriously ill he would rush over to help.

During her trial, Lucy Letby was quizzed about her relationship with a consultant who became her ‘best friend’ when she was murdering babies at work He had sent a message to her ending with a large red heart emoji. Nick Johnson KC, prosecuting, asked her to read the message aloud, but then had to prompt her twice before she finally referred to the emoji. ‘It’s a heart,’ she told him.

Letby had responded to the doctor’s love heart with one of her own, combined with a smiling face emoji. ‘It’s a smiley face and a heart,’ she said. Mr Johnson asked: ‘But he wasn’t your boyfriend?’ Letby replied: ‘It’s not a relationship at all.

It’s a friendship’. Mr Johnson went on to refer to a note in which the nurse tells herself she is ‘an awful person’ and laments the likelihood that ‘I’ll never know what it’s like to have a family. ‘ The barrister asked: ‘What made you think at the time you wrote this that you would never have a family?’ Be the first to comment Be one of the first to comment Comments Join the conversation and tell us what you think Comment now The living room at the house where Letby lived in Cheshire before she was arrested The bedroom inside the house, which has now been sold Mr Johnson said: ‘You had a house, you had a car, you had a boyfriend?’ ‘Yes,’ the nurse replied.

The trial heard no further evidence about this apparent relationship. It is not clear how long it lasted or who the boyfriend was. Alternatively, he may have been a figment of Letby’s imagination.

The nurse is not known to have shared any romantic relationships, with one mother of a close friend saying: ‘ There were no boyfriends, well not that I knew of anyway. ‘ Similarly, her devious nature was exposed during the trial, with the judge explaining how she went to great lengths to gaslight her colleagues into thinking the deaths on her watch were just a run of ‘bad luck’. The nurse murdered seven babies and tried to kill six more As well as falsifying medical records, Letby would attack babies when colleagues were on their breaks and contaminate food that would later be used by them without realising.

Attempting to explain away her damning note, Letby maintained that she ‘couldn’t see a future for myself’ because she felt senior staff were trying to hold her accountable for what she believed were failings at the hospital. Mr Johnson asked: ‘But you were having a good time?’ Letby replied: ‘Yes, there were times in those years that I had a good time. Yes.

‘ The nurse murdered seven babies and tried to kill six more. Share or comment on this article: Lucy Letby’s ‘mystery lover’: How killer told court she couldn’t have been infatuated with a married doctor because she had a ‘house, a car, and a boyfriend’ – but no-one has ever identified him e-mail 125 shares Add comment Comments 8 Share what you think Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all The comments below have been moderated in advance. View all The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

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