Letby's mystery 'boyfriend and married doctor crush she fooled in killing spree'
Baby serial killer Lucy Letby was put behind bars for life last summer.
The former NHS nurse's bid to challenge her convictions is due to be considered by the Court of Appeal at a hearing in April, a judiciary spokeswoman said. Her lawyers are set to ask senior judges for permission to bring an appeal against all her convictions at the hearing in London, provisionally listed for April 25.
Her initial application to take forward her challenge was refused by a single judge without a hearing last month. But now, she is able to renew her efforts before a panel of three judges at the hearing in just nine weeks' time.
But if they decline, it will mark the end of the appeal process for Letby, who is currently behind bars in HMP Low Newton, a high-security prison for women. Letby was found guilty of killing seven babies and attempting to kill another six. They were under her care whilst she worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and 2016.
Lucy was described as 'kind and goofy' by those close to her
She lived an active social life when she clocked off from the ward (Facebook/ Cavendish Press)The jury at Manchester Crown Court was unable to reach verdicts on six counts of attempted murder in relation to five children. She will face a retrial at the same court in June on a single count that she attempted to murder a baby girl, known as Child K, in February 2016.
Lucy Letby guilty of murdering 7 babies as Angel of Death faces life sentence
Before being locked up, she boasted a packed social calendar of meetups with friends and dates with her 'crush' - who she will likely never see again. To strangers and even loved ones, Letby lived a relatively normal life and was described as "goofy" and "kind" by friends. Among colleagues, she was known as the "quiet geek". She had a good job and an active social life, but as the lengthy trial found, Letby was hiding an unfathomable dark side.
Her childhood friend Dawn, who claimed the charges levelled against her pal were "most out of character that you could ever put against Lucy", said Letby had always dreamed of becoming a nurse after being grateful to those nurses who helped her survive her own difficult birth.
While Letby was focused on her career, boyfriends do not appear to have been a big feature of her early 20s. However, during the lengthy 10-month trial earlier this year, unmarried Letby claimed she did have a mystery boyfriend as she defended herself against allegations that she had an affair with a married doctor on the ward.
During the trial at Manchester Crown Court, it was alleged that Letby murdered two premature triplets in less than 24 hours to get the attention of the doctor, known as Dr A, whom she had a "crush" on. The hospital medic, who cannot be named for legal reasons, shared supportive text messages with Letby following the deaths.
The prosecution suggested their relationship went beyond that of colleagues. After she was removed from the ward, the two continued to meet outside of work for coffee and restaurant dates, shopping trips, and a visit to her home, where she lived alone. He was described by prosecutors as her 'boyfriend', but Letby insisted: "I loved him as a friend. I was not in love with him."
She dreamed of being a nurse, according to a school friend (Facebook)
It was claimed she carried out murders to get the attention of Dr A, giving her an excuse to speak with him (MEN MEDIA)The jury heard they exchanged messages at work and at home, while her nursing colleagues teased her about flirting with him. In one text shown to the jury, Letby had said she received a 'strange message' from the doctor. Her colleague said: "Did you? Saying what? Go Commando (laughing face emoji)." Letby replied with four laughing face emojis but when questioned during her trial, she denied knowing what 'go commando' meant.
In another message, Letby protested: "I don't flirt with him! Certainly, don't fancy him ha ha just a nice guy." At one stage, the court was presented with a document citing examples of her social life during the period of the killings. It saw that she and Dr A had been to London together for the day, and messages between them showed a series of love heart emojis exchanged as they made plans to meet.
But it was during this questioning that she appeared to reveal she had a 'boyfriend'. "[Colleague] was a married man, it's not a relationship at all it's a friendship," she said before admitting she did have a boyfriend at this time. It wasn't made clear if this was the same person and no previous partners were mentioned during the trial.
Letby claimed her relationship with Dr A, who she referred to as 'sweetie' in messages, "fizzled out" at the start of 2018. But there was no denying her emotions when the man appeared in court to give evidence against her, with Letby visibly distressed for the first time during the trial. She tried to leave the dock, claiming to feel "unwell" but prosecutor Nick Johnson replied: "No, it's because you didn't like hearing your boyfriend giving evidence, did you?"
Various disturbing hand-written messages were discovered in Letby's home. One saw her confess her love for Dr A (PA)In social media messages, Letby told the medic he was a 'man of many talents'. On her first day back at work after a holiday in Ibiza, she wrote 'boo' when she learned that he wouldn't be there working with her. Later that day, Child O collapsed and Letby called for Dr A's help.
Police fear killer nurse Lucy Letby has many more helpless victims
Prosecutor Mr Johnson asked her: "Did you want to get his attention?", which she denied. The following day, Child P collapsed when Letby was on duty and Dr A again responded to the emergency crash call. Mr Johnson asked her: "Did you enjoy being in these crisis situations with Dr A. Did it give you something to talk about and message about?" Letby said: "No, Dr A and I were friends."
When another medic raised concerns after a baby fell ill, Letby sought reassurance from Dr A. He messaged her saying: "No more doubt, it is not you, it is the babies." He added: "You are one of a few nurses in the region (I've worked pretty much everywhere) that I would trust with my own children."
Meanwhile, her infatuation was made evident after her arrest when police found a note in her home with the name of Dr A and the phrases: "My best friend. Love, I loved you and I think you knew that. I trusted you with everything....I wanted you to stand by me but you didn't."
In August 2023, Letby was found guilty of seven counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder during her campaign of terror at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. She deliberately harmed the innocent babies in various ways, including: injecting air intravenously and administering air and/or milk into the stomach via nasogastric tubes, adding insulin as a poison to intravenous feeds, interferring with breathing tubes and inflicting trauma in some cases.
On August 21 2023, she was sentenced to a whole life order - making her the fourth female criminal in British history to have no hope of parole. Whole-life orders are the most severe punishment available in the country's criminal justice system and are reserved for those who commit the most heinous crimes.
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