NHS doctor Mark Deakin is named publicly for the first time after he died suddenly, following his dismissal from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Both outlets link his job loss to messages he exchanged with Lucy Letby during a period when they worked together.
The reports say Deakin worked with Letby at the Countess of Chester Hospital during the years in which Letby is convicted of murdering babies and attempting to murder others at neonatal units. The Mirror describes Deakin as Letby’s “doctor boyfriend,” based on the alleged messages. The Daily Express similarly identifies him as the doctor associated with Letby, framing the relationship in the context of her crimes at Chester. Both accounts attribute his dismissal to the content and circumstances of the exchanged communications, but they present the relationship label differently while maintaining the same core allegations.
The naming comes amid ongoing attention to how staff interactions and institutional oversight functioned in the neonatal units involved, particularly during the period leading up to Letby’s convictions.
