An inquest into the death of Dr Mark Deakin, a consultant paediatrician who was described in court as the "boyfriend" of convicted child serial killer nurse Lucy Letby, has been scheduled for February 2025. Dr Deakin, 53, from Winsford, Cheshire, was found collapsed in his car on 24 June 2024 and died in hospital nine days later on 3 July. He had reportedly been dismissed for gross misconduct the day before and was later found in his car at a retail park about 20 miles from his home. The inquest, opened by HM Senior Coroner for Cheshire Jacqueline Devonish, noted that there is reason to suspect Dr Deakin's death was unnatural. A pre-inquest review is set for 22 January, with the full inquest taking place on 23 and 24 February. Dr Deakin had been granted lifetime anonymity when he gave evidence at Letby's trial, where she was convicted of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of seven others at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Reporting restrictions were lifted after his death. During Letby's trial, she broke down in tears and tried to leave the dock when Dr Deakin, a married father-of-two, entered the witness box and answered questions from behind a screen. The prosecution suggested this was because she did not like hearing her "boyfriend" give evidence, to which she replied: "That’s unfair." Dr Deakin's name appeared repeatedly on scrawled notes found at Letby’s home address after her arrest, including several references to "love was all we needed." Letby denied they were in a relationship and stated Dr Deakin was merely a "trusted friend." Dr Deakin was never asked at the trial or at the Thirlwall Inquiry if he had been in a relationship with Letby. He told the public inquiry into how Letby was able to commit her crimes that she had "misled and maybe manipulated" him into giving her information about her victims. The then-registrar exchanged 1,355 Facebook messages with Letby in a three-month period when they worked together between June 2016 and September 2016. Dr Deakin supported her grievance case against her removal from the neonatal unit to non-patient duties from July 2016, and also set up a number of "observational visits" to Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital the following year when he worked there as a locum consultant. A mother of one of Letby’s attempted murder victims, Child N, later filed a complaint against Dr Deakin with Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, where he permanently moved to from the Countess of Chester, and alleged he had shared confidential information about her son with Letby. Alder Hey also investigated him over what he knew about Letby at the time of her visits to their hospital. Letby, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life terms for the crimes she committed at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.