Lucy Letby's life behind bars, solitary hospital cell and plans for dying days
More than five years ago, officers escorted handcuffed Lucy Letby out of her home and into the back of a police car parked on the street as she was placed under arrest. Today, she was finally put behind bars for good.
Last week, the Angel of Death nurse was found guilty of seven counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder during her campaign of terror at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
She deliberately harmed the innocent babies in various ways, including: injecting air intravenously and administering air and/or milk into the stomach via nasogastric tubes, adding insulin as a poison to intravenous feeds, interferring with breathing tubes and inflicting trauma in some cases.
On Monday, she was sentenced to a whole life order - making her the fourth female criminal in British history to have no hope of parole. To strangers and even loved ones, it looked like evil Letby lived a relatively normal life - she had a good job, socialised with friends, attended salsa classes in the evening and had a girly bedroom filled with inspirational quotes.
But what will her new life look like in prison? Since her arrest in 2018, the 33-year-old has already spent time in four different jails. But her new normal is set to look a lot different.
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Lucy Letby being arrested at home in Chester on July 3, 2018 (Cheshire Constabulary/AFP via Ge)The average life sentence is 16.5 years, but 'whole-lifers' have no chance of escape - their case will never be reviewed by the Parole Board. Letby will likely start her sentence in either HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, where she's already served time, or placed in HMP Low Newton, in Durham.
Bronzefield is the largest women's prison in Europe, where Rose West spent time before being transferred, with current inmates including Shauna Hoare, who was found guilty of manslaughter for the killing of Becky Watts in 2015 and the al-Qaeda fanatic Roshonara Choudhry, who stabbed Labour MP Stephen Timms in 2010. Meanwhile, Low Netwon, a maximum security prison, has housed female killers Joanna Dennehy, Rose West, Bernadette McNeilly, and the mother of tragic tot Baby P, Tracey Connelly.
Experts say that Letby will have 'restricted status' for an inmate, which is considered the female equivalent of Category A - meaning she is the highest-risk threat to the public. It is said she will be on suicide watch for some months and it will be a while before she is integrated with other prisoners.
The bed in her Chester home that she'll never be able to sleep in again (PA)She will start off her whole life sentence living in the hospital wing of the prison while they assess her mental and physical health, and as a way of protecting her safety from other inmates. Eventually, she'll be moved into her own cell.
This is a routine procedure for every inmate found guilty of murder, on the assumption that anyone who faces decades in prison will contemplate taking their own life. It will take place in a number of forms - from CCTV cameras watching Letby to direct supervision from officers, noting her moves every 10 minutes.
However because of the strain this places on staff, it can't last forever, therefore they will have to make an assessment to clear her. "She'll be what's known as a 'restricted status' prisoner," Mark Leech, a prisons expert and editor of The Prison Oracle website told the Telegraph. "She'll be on suicide watch and it will be some time before she gets to mingle with the main prison population - at least six months."
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Her only human interaction will be through her cell hatch (Getty Images/iStockphoto)She could be receiving extra care and attention at HMP Low Newton, which boasts the 'Primrose Project' - designed to treat women with "dangerous and severe personality disorders" and is the only prison in the UK with such a unit. While Letby will be considered a threat to herself, she will be a possible target for others for the rest of her life.
Professor Yvonne Jewkes, professor of criminology at the University of Bath, says Letby will have a price on her head. "At best, she'll be subjected to extreme bullying and intimidation. At worst, she might be in quite considerable physical danger," she told the Telegraph.
Because of the extent of her heinous crimes and safety being compromised, it'll be a lonely ride for Letby with very little human contact. "She'll associate mostly with prison officers, her key worker in the prison and one or two cleaners, but much of that interaction will be through the hatch in her cell door," Leech added.
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She'll be spending at least 22 hours a day inside her single cell - approximately 1.8 metres wide by three metres in length. Inside the cell, Lucy, who will be forced to wear a prison uniform of grey joggers and a sweater, will have a single bed, a storage unit, a chair, and a toilet.
Due to her confinement, it's likely she will be encouraged by staff to be mentally stimulated to avoid extreme stress, anger, and frustration, which is common for prisoners being locked up for this long. Her life of solitude will be filled with reading stories about others - she will be able to read newspapers, books, and watch TV, but not much else. And for an hour a day, she will be able to exercise, walking the prison grounds.
Her parents attended each day of the Manchester Crown Court trial (PA)
One of the general population prison cells in HMP Low Newton (HMP Low Newton)Lucy will however be able to speak to her family and receive visits, which will be vetted by police, though they will be few and far between. A convicted prisoner is usually allowed at least two 1-hour visits every four weeks.
Her parents, Susan and John, from Chester, were there at Manchester Crown Court for each day of her 10-month trial, so it's likely they will keep returning to check in on their daughter. Letby won't be able to receive emails directly, but she can receive messages through the Email a Prisoner service.
They're printed out and delivered by prison staff, with each email costing 40p from Letby's prison cash card. There is no limit on the number of letters she can send and receive however, although most are checked by prison staff.
When it comes to phone calls, she will only be able to speak to those named on her friends and family list. And as this needs to be checked by security, it'll take a few days following her arrival for her to be able to make a call.
In time, it is expected that she would be integrated into groups, such as reading clubs or cooking classes, like Rose West, who is said to have become a star baker. It is thought that the professionals will want to keep her busy, and even encourage her to do an Open University degree.
Her diet will now be dictated by the chef's selection of hot meals and lunches, with an Independent Monitoring Board report, published in 2021, saying that Low Newton provided food that was "nutritious, well cooked and of good variety". Later in life, it is expected for Letby to be moved to a lower-security prison to see out her final days before her death behind bars.
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