Lucy Letby Offered Friend 'Tips' on How to Get Away with Murder Years Before Guilty Verdicts, Inquiry Hears

• Lucy Letby offered a former colleague and friend “tips” on how to get away with murder years before she was found guilty of killing seven infants and attempting to kill seven more, a public inquiry in Liverpool, England, has heard
• The former neonatal nurse is currently serving 15 life sentences for the crimes
• Letby had been discussing the legal drama How to Get Away with Murder with Hayley Griffiths when she made the comments

Lucy Letby, the British neonatal nurse found guilty of killing seven infants and attempting to kill seven others, offered to give a former colleague and friend “tips” on “how to get away with murder,” a public inquiry has heard.

The Thirlwall Inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall — set up to examine events at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester, England, where the convicted nurse previously worked — heard on Wednesday, Nov. 6, that Letby had been discussing the legal drama How to Get Away with Murder with union representative Hayley Griffiths when she made the comments, per a WhatsApp exchange seen by PEOPLE.

The messages between Letby and Griffiths are dated March 2017, over a year before Letby was first arrested for her crimes in July 2018. In August 2023, the now-34-year-old was convicted of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder six others in 2015 and 2016. In July of this year, PEOPLE reported she’d also been convicted of another attempted murder of a newborn girl in a case in which the jury failed to reach a verdict in 2023.

The public inquiry, which began hearing oral evidence in September, heard that Griffiths wrote in a message to Letby, “I’m currently watching a programme called how to get away with murder. I’m learning some good tips.”

Letby, who is serving 15 life sentences, responded, “I could have given you some tips x,” as Griffiths said, “I need someone to practice on to see if I can get away with it.”

“I can think of two people you could practice on and we’ll help you cover it up x,” the convicted nurse responded at the time, as Griffiths replied, “Deal. I will get thinking of a plan. Get the cruise booked as our getaway.”

“Yep x,” Letby responded.

The messages came around a year after Letby had been moved off the neonatal unit onto clerical duties amid concerns that she might have been harming babies, U.K. newspaper The Telegraph reported.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. 

According to the BBC, Griffiths said Letby had become friends with “quite a lot of us” while they were working in the U.K. hospital’s risk and patient safety department, and that she’d been aware of the link to Letby amid concerns about babies at the location since September 2016.

Lawyer Shahram Sharghy, who is representing some of the families of Letby’s victims, asked Griffiths during the inquiry, “Given the severity of the allegations that were made, and would you agree they are possibly the most serious allegations that anybody could make against a healthcare professional, were you making light of those allegations when you were referring to potentially committing a crime?” per The Telegraph.

“No,” Griffiths reportedly replied, before Sharghy asked, “Can you even begin to imagine and put yourself in the position of the families of the babies who were harmed when they see those messages?” according to the outlet.

Griffiths insisted, “I know … I am so remorseful. As soon as I saw them myself I was upset and I can’t begin to imagine … I can only apologize and say I have learned. I can’t go back in time but I have reflected absolutely on it.”

“It was nothing more than a conversation. However, I truly and deeply regret having started that conversation … this is completely unprofessional, poor judgment on my behalf and completely insensitive,” Griffiths also told counsel to the inquiry, Rachel Langdale KC, per Sky News. “And for that, I can only apologize from the bottom of my heart.”

The inquiry was also told about a letter that Letby’s parents, John and Susan Letby, sent to trust executives after their daughter submitted a grievance complaint following her removal from the neonatal unit, per the BBC. The grievance was “upheld in her favour” and hospital bosses told consultants to apologize to Letby, the outlet stated.

The parents said in the letter that they believed “certain consultants have a personal grudge against Lucy,” The Telegraph reported.

“The overlying question that has kept us awake since the day this all started and no one has come up with an answer is ‘Why Lucy?’ ” the letter included, per the outlet.

The inquiry is expected to last until early 2025, with findings expected to be reported by the fall of next year.

Sharghy did not immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE.