- Letby was convicted on Friday of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six other infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital
Baby killer Lucy Letby is to face a life of isolation as she rots behind bars, caged in a maximum security jail and locked away from fellow inmates who want to attack her.
The most prolific child serial killer in modern British history murdered seven newborns and tried to kill six more, in a depraved spree that sent shockwaves through the nation.
In an unprecedented move, the ‘cruel and calculating’ NHS nurse was given a whole life order for her heinous crimes, meaning she will almost certainly die behind bars.
Ruthless nurse made history
Letby became the fourth woman to receive a whole life sentence after Myra Hindley, Rose West and serial killer Joanna Dennehy – who murdered three men in a 10-day spree in 2013.
It is likely Letby, 33, will be jailed in HMP Low Newton in Durham. But her time there will be bleak.
Experts say given many inmates are unable to see their own children, Letby’s crimes will strike a cord with caged mothers, who will want to attack her.
At first the killer – who cowered in her cell during her sentencing hearing on Monday rather than face the bereaved relatives whose lives she destroyed – will be kept in the prison’s hospital wing to assess her mental and physical health before then being moved to a cell of her own.
She will also be on 24-hour suicide watch.
Would other inmates dish out revenge on her?
Tania Bassett, press officer for Napo, the trade union and professional association for probation and family court staff, said the ex-neonatal nurse will be ‘at risk’ from other inmates seeking to dish out their own jailhouse revenge for her crimes.
‘Infanticide can conjure a lot of strong emotions and a huge number of those women in prison will be separated from their children,’ she told The Times.
‘Being known as a baby killer will put her at risk from the majority of women in custody so she will be spending a lot of that sentence on her own. Prison officers will be the only people she has contact with.
‘How long she is segregated will depend on how strong the emotions towards her are from other prisoners, but it’s likely that will be a long time.’
Letby was convicted on Friday of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six other infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
She could now serve life behind bars with the country’s most depraved murderers at a jail where inmates have the chance to go shopping, pet baby animals and decorate their cells pink.
