Serial baby killer Lucy Letby sent flirty messages to a doctor, revealing an infatuation with the older man.
The former nurse was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six other infants while working on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
The thirty-three-year-old is now the UK’s most prolific child killer of modern times and is expected to receive a whole-life sentence for her hideous crimes.
No motive was established for the murders during police investigations, leaving many unanswered questions.
DCI Nicola Evans, the deputy senior investigating officer on the case, said the lack of a motive must be “really hard” for the victims’ families to accept.
“I don’t know whether we will ever be able to answer that question, and only Lucy Letby can answer that,” she told Sky News.
However, text messages she exchanged with a doctor at the hospital may provide a clue as to why she embarked on her horrific killing spree.
Prosecutors claimed she sought to gain the sympathy of the married father and enjoyed being in a crisis situation with him.
He would sometimes find himself “crash bleeped” to treat babies Letby had attacked.
The doctor, who was granted lifelong anonymity, denied he had an affair with the killer nurse, saying he had been the subject of unrequited affection from her.
Letby is also said to have targeted the doctor’s wife on social media, as her infatuation grew.
Jurors were show a number of text messages exchanged between the pair when they worked together at the hospital.
After attacking one baby, Letby messaged him about the infant’s issues, writing it “made me think I was not good enough”.
He replied: “You are one of a few nurses I would trust with my own children.”
Letby shared her feelings about the doctor to a friend who texted her to say: “Think he likes u too”, later adding: “Thought as flirty as u.”
The pair spent time together outside work, going on a day trip to London and for coffee at a Starbucks at Cheshire Oaks designer outlet.
Police also found a note at her home after her arrest that was addressed to the doctor.
She wrote: “My best friend. Love. I loved you and I think you knew that.
“I wanted you to stand by me but you didn’t.”
Letby has denied any affair between the two, saying the doctor was just a “trusted friend”.
She said their friendship “fizzled out” at the start of 2018, six months before her arrest.
Police believe Letby may have harmed more babies during her six-year career as a children’s nurse.
Officers have launched a helpline for parents to call to report concerns, as they seek to widen their investigations.
Detectives have asked specialists to examine the records of more than 4,000 infants born at Liverpool Women’s hospital and the Countess of Chester, the two hospitals where Letby worked between 2010 and 2016.
