A woman prisoner on the same wing as convicted baby killer Lucy Letby has revealed that the former nurse is under constant guard - because authorities fear she is a "danger to other prisoners". Speaking exclusively to the Mirror from inside HMP Bronzefield, the prisoner who is locked up with some of Britain's most dangerous female criminals spoke in the wake of this week's press conference by campaigners on Letby's behalf which featured 14 medics claiming no murders took place.
The inmate, who has asked us to protect their identity for fear or reprisals, said that Letby has been unable to walk the corridors of the jail alone and is always accompanied by a prison officer. But as well as being for her own protection, the move is to ensure Letby is unable to harm other inmates. The insider said: "Lucy has to be accompanied by a guard everywhere she goes, she is considered dangerous and also is vulnerable to other prisoners." She also described the serial killer as "very weird" and "not very friendly".
Letby - who murdered seven babies and attempted to kill eight more - is serving 15 whole-life prison orders meaning she will spend the rest of her life in prison. Despite her convictions in two trials and twice being refused leave to appeal, a team campaigning on Letby's behalf claim she has suffered a miscarriage of justice and on Tuesday put forward contrasting medical opinions of some of the evidence used in court in a bid to secure a fresh appeal.
However, Letby appears unhappy about the conduct of the ongoing campaign. And despite brutally ending seven innocent and helpless young lives, the 35-year-old spends her time whining about her own life "wasting away". Our jail insider revealed: "She's worried about the time this is all taking, the last trial was one year long, with zero defence experts, but now they are going to have these 14 people, how long is the trial going to be, what court is going to be able to manage a year-long trial. Meanwhile, she's 35 years old, she's in the prime of her life and her life is wasting away.".
In the meantime, Letby has been put to work, carrying out tasks for other inmates in Houseblock Four as part of the jail regime, making toast in the morning for everyone at breakfast, and doing the laundry for all the women on the wing. The roles appear to bring out contrasts in Letby's character. Our insider said: "She is really odd, she's very weird. She doesn't come across as very sympathetic, she's not very friendly, she's super shy actually, but she will help wherever she can. She's just odd, she has a weird look, when she thinks someone is looking at her, she's staring at people.".
While she may have problems with other inmates, Letby's relationship with another notorious prisoner has grown stronger. It was previously reported that the serial killer had befriended Beinash Batool, who murdered her own step daughter, Sara Sharif. A court heard the 10-year-old was subjected to "unspeakable" violence for years before she was killed. Batool, 30, was convicted of murdering the little girl along with her husband Urfan Sharif, 43, and both were given life sentences. After she was jailed, Batool struck up a friendship with Letby, with the pair said to enjoy playing cards together. Now, our prison insider reveals, their bond has grown stronger, saying: "She's best friends with that Beinash.".
In August 2023, a jury spent 22 days and more than 96 hours deliberating the string of charges levelled against neonatal nurse Letby. They found her guilty of seven counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder carried out between 2015 and 2016 the Countess of Chester Hospital. She was found not guilty of two counts of attempted murder. Verdicts were not reached on six counts of attempted murder.
She was retried on one count of attempted murder in July 2024 and found guilty. Letby was sentenced to 15 whole-life prison orders meaning she will spend the rest of her life in prison. She lost two bids to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal last year. A public inquiry has been launched in the wake of Letby's convictions and has heard police are investigating other baby deaths linked to the hospital where she worked. Amid the Thirlwall Inquiry, it emerged Letby had been questioned under caution in prison by detectives probing deaths and non-fatal collapses at both the Countess of Chester and also at Liverpool Women's Hospital, where she trained as a student.
On Tuesday, at a press conference led by her barrister Mark McDonald KC, MP David Davis branded Letby's case "one of major injustices of modern times". They produced "medical evidence" from 14 neonatal medical experts which they say debunks the medical evidence presented at trial by the prosecution. Retired medic Dr Shoo Lee, who co-authored a 1989 academic paper on air embolism in babies, presented the findings of a panel who said they had compiled an “impartial evidence-based report”. He went on to give seven examples of how the care of each baby had, he claimed, wrongly been blamed on Letby, when there was "clear evidence" something else "really happened".
