Tony Chambers said John Letby was "threatening guns to my head" and wanted the "instant dismissal" of two senior doctors who raised fears that she was harming newborns, a public inquiry heard yesterday.
Chambers said he had tried to "take the heat" out of the situation by telling the nurse she had been vindicated by several reviews and could return to the neonatal unit.
The inquiry heard he told Letby at one meeting in February 2017: "Lucy, don't worry, we've got your back."
Chambers admitted it was "clumsy language" and added: "As I've said all along, the intention here was to avoid any possible escalation and eight years on, with what we know these are the kind of things you know you didn't get right."
Letby, now 34, is serving 15 whole-life terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more at the Countess of Chester hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
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