An inquest has been scheduled into the death of Dr. Mark Deakin, a consultant pediatrician who was described in court as the “boyfriend” of convicted child killer nurse Lucy Letby.

Deakin, 53, from Winsford, Cheshire, was found collapsed in his car on June 24 and died in hospital nine days later, on July 3.

According to the report, Deakin had been dismissed for gross misconduct on June 23, one day before he was found seriously unwell inside his vehicle at a retail park around 20 miles from his home.

The inquest into his death was formally opened Wednesday at Cheshire Coroner’s Court by HM Senior Coroner Jacqueline Devonish.

During a brief hearing, coroner’s officer Amanda Edgar said Cheshire Police had received a call expressing concern about Deakin on June 23. Further inquiries led to him being found in his vehicle the following day, suffering from ill health.

Deakin was taken to Whiston Hospital for treatment but died on July 3.

Edgar told the court there was reason to suspect that the circumstances surrounding his death were unnatural.

The coroner adjourned the hearing and scheduled a pre-inquest review for January 22. The full inquest is scheduled to take place on February 23 and 24.

Deakin had previously been granted lifetime anonymity when he gave evidence during Letby’s trial. The reporting restrictions were lifted earlier this month following his death.

During Letby’s trial at Manchester Crown Court, she became emotional when Deakin entered the witness box and gave evidence from behind a screen.

The prosecution suggested that Letby was upset because she did not want to hear her alleged “boyfriend” give evidence. Letby rejected the characterization, responding: “That’s unfair.”

The pair exchanged 1,355 Facebook messages over a three-month period between June and September 2016, when they worked together.

Notes found at Letby’s home after her arrest also reportedly contained repeated references to Deakin, including the phrase “love was all we needed.”

Letby told jurors that she and Deakin met outside work but denied that they had been romantically involved. She described him instead as a “trusted friend.”

Deakin was not asked during Letby’s criminal trial or during the Thirlwall Inquiry whether he had been in a relationship with her.

During the public inquiry into how Letby was able to carry out her crimes, Deakin said she had “misled and maybe manipulated” him into providing information about her victims.

Deakin also supported Letby’s grievance after she was removed from the neonatal unit and transferred to non-patient duties in July 2016.

The inquiry heard that, while working as a locum consultant at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Deakin arranged several “observational visits” for Letby there the following year.

A mother of one of Letby’s attempted murder victims, known as Child N, later complained to Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust. She alleged that Deakin had shared confidential information about her son with Letby.

Alder Hey subsequently investigated Deakin over what he knew about Letby at the time of her visits to the hospital.

Letby, who is from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life terms for the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of seven others at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.

SOURCE: The Independent, Kim Pilling, September 23, 2026.