Lucy Letby, the former neonatal nurse convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill 10 more, has begun her lifelong prison sentence in isolation.
According to a report by Mirroronline, the 33-year-old was sentenced to a whole life order, meaning she has no chance of parole and will die behind bars.
It’s expected Lucy Letby will spend at least 22 hours a day inside her prison cell and be subject to violent attacks and extreme bullying (Image PA)
Letby is being held as a Category A prisoner, the highest security risk, in a solitary hospital cell at HMP Low Newton in County Durham. She spends 22 hours a day alone inside her small cell, which contains just a bed, toilet, chair and storage unit. Her only human contact is through a hatch in her cell door when prison staff deliver food and medication.
Experts say Letby will be on 24-hour suicide watch for at least six months before she can integrate with the general prison population.
. There are also concerns that she may be targeted with violence by fellow inmates due to the horrific nature of her crimes.
Professor Yvonne Jewkes, a criminology expert at the University of Bath, said: “At best, she’ll be subjected to extreme bullying and intimidation. At worst, she might be in quite considerable physical danger.”
Letby is only permitted to interact with prison officers, healthcare staff and cleaners through her cell door hatch.
She is banned from mixing with other prisoners during exercise periods. Her isolation is for her own protection but also means she has no human contact.
The killer nurse will eventually be allowed two family visits per month of up to an hour each.
However, her parents will have to pass rigorous police checks before being approved as visitors. Phone calls are also strictly monitored.
Letby spends her days alone watching TV, reading books and writing letters. She is allowed unlimited correspondence which is all checked by prison staff.
With no hope of release, her future holds decades of solitary confinement.
Some believe she may be transferred to a lower security prison in later life but she will always be isolated from other inmates
The families of her victims fear she could be released on compassionate grounds when elderly.
However, legal experts say the chances of Letby being let out of prison before her death are extremely slim.
She would have to be paralyzed, terminally ill or mentally incapacitated to be considered for compassionate release.
While some killers have been released in their 80s and 90s, child murderers tend to die behind bars. Letby was just 32 when sentenced so could have 50 years or more left to serve.
There are rumors she has already been attacked in prison but the Ministry of Justice has denied these as false.
Some inmates throw boiling water or hot oil at child killers but Letby’s isolation makes assault impossible.
Her sentence means she will never experience normal life again. The neonatal nurse will grow old and die alone inside the confines of her small, sparse cell. Her only interaction with the outside world will be brief, supervised visits and letters from family.
Letby’s prison conditions are bleak but many believe she deserves no mercy after murdering innocent premature babies. The families of her victims want her locked away forever and now have the reassurance she will never be freed.
The NHS inquiry into her crimes will focus on how she was able to kill and was undetected for so long.
It will also examine why concerns raised by hospital staff were ignored. Letby’s motivation remains unclear but her lonely life behind bars means she will never fully explain her disturbing actions.
For the relatives of the babies Letby murdered, her imprisonment brings justice and closure. They can finally move on knowing she will remain isolated and unable to hurt anyone again. The evil killer’s permanent solitary confinement is the punishment they wanted for her hideous crimes.
