Lucy Letby remains locked up behind bars as her fate has been thrown into question amid claims of 'new evidence'. The former NHS nurse, 34, was convicted of murdering seven babies and trying to kill seven more between 2015 and 2016 at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Letby was handed her 15th whole-life term last year for attempting to murder a premature baby girl. Letby, dubbed Britain's most prolific child killer, has always maintained her innocence.

Now, lawyers representing the convicted serial killer have announced they have "significant new medical evidence" and have applied to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to investigate her case as a possible miscarriage of justice. Retired neonatal expert Dr Shoo Lee - who co-authored a 1989 academic paper on air embolism in babies which featured prominently in Letby’s 10-month trial - claimed: "In summary then, ladies and gentlemen, we did not find murders.

"In all cases, death or injury were due to natural causes or just bad medical care." A CCRC spokesperson has asked that "everyone remembers the families affected" by the tragic baby deaths. It is believed that Letby is incarcerated at privately-run HMP Bronzefield in Surrey. She is believed to spend at least 22 hours a day inside her single cell. Her life of solitude is said to be filled with reading stories about others in newspapers and books and watching TV, but not much else. For an hour a day, she will be able to exercise, walking the prison grounds.

She is expected, however, to 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 one-hour visits every four weeks. Letby won't be able to receive emails directly, but she can receive messages through the Email a Prisoner service. Prison staff print out and deliver these, 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. And when it comes to phone calls, she will only be able to speak to those named on her friends and family list.

Retired prison governor Vanessa Frake, who spent nearly three decades working inside jail, previously told the Mirror in December last year she believes Letby will have a 'target on her head' and will still be on suicide watch, continuously monitored by officers and targeted by inmates. Vanessa said: "My own thoughts are that it's too early in her sentence to take her off suicide watch yet.". Despite previous reports of Letby receiving prison privileges, including dying her hair brown, the former prison warden does not believe she will have "any more or any less than other prisoners". She said: "Letby is no different from any other prisoner serving a whole-life sentence, and she will not receive special treatment, that is for certain.".

Vanessa explained that it's "very common for like-minded prisoners, like child killers, to form friendships with each other". She said: "I've seen it many times. They have this pull towards each other." Letby reportedly struck up a chilling bond with two dangerous inmates while on remand at Bronzefield - baby poisoner Michelle Smith and Shauna Hoare, who played a role in the tragic killing of schoolgirl Becky Watts in 2015.

In recent months, it's been revealed that Sara Sharif's evil stepmother, Beinash Batool, has struck up a prison friendship with Letby. A source told The Mirror: "Beinash and Lucy live on the same wing with all the other lifers. They hang out on the landing together most days, playing cards and chatting. The child killers always stick together because they want to protect themselves, so it doesn't surprise me in the least that they get along so well.".

But while Letby may have allies, Vanessa predicts there will be violent attempts on her life. "You've got the likes of serial killer Joanna Dennehy behind bars who murders for fun. She'd have no hesitation in trying to have a pop at Lucy Letby, or others for that matter," she said. "Women who have had children, who are carers and nurturers, will see the likes of Letby as lower than low. You can bet they know she is in their jail - they may not know where, but they will have read papers and seen her on TV, and they will know exactly what she looks like. It will be the staff's job to protect her from that.".

Nowadays, there is half the amount of staff working to manage the same amount of prisoners, Vanessa explained, but "it's as safe as it can be". "There is quite a lot of violence these days in prison because we have quite a violent society. There seems to be a lot of stabbings, guns, shootings and gangs - and that spills into prison. If you have those people on the outside and they get arrested, you've got that violence inside," she said, explaining that violence around Letby will be inevitable.