Lucy Letby will spend the rest of her life in prison as a ‘target’, a former prison officer has claimed.
The former nurse was told she would die behind bars after being sentenced to an additional life sentence earlier this month for the attempted murder of a baby girl. Letby, 34, was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of attacking the newborn baby during a night shift at the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in February 2016.
Last August, she was convicted by the same court of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six others, with two attempts on one child. She is already serving 14 life sentences for each of those offences, which she committed on the ward between June 2015 and June 2016.
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Retired prison governor Vanessa Frake has spoken to the Mirror about the Letbys’ situation behind bars, which she says will be just as dangerous as when she was first locked up in August 2023. Vanessa, who spent almost 30 years in prison overseeing child killers including Beverley Allitt, Moors murderer Myra Hindley and serial killer Rose West, said she expects the former nurse to remain under surveillance for suicide attempts.
She is likely to be under constant surveillance by officers and targeted by prisoners, she said. She told the Mirror: “I think her regime will be the same after her last conviction – she will probably still be on suicide watch, away from the general population of the prison, with other like-minded prisoners.
“Anything Letby wants to do, in terms of education or leaving the wing, will have to be risk assessed and all visitors will be monitored. They will undoubtedly be keeping an eye on her.”
Letby is believed to be currently incarcerated at the privately run HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, after spending time at HMP Low Newton in Durham. But wherever she is serving her sentence, as a Category A prisoner, Vanessa predicts violent attempts on Letby’s life will be made by fellow inmates.
“You have serial killer Joanna Dennehy behind bars who kills for fun. She would not hesitate to attack Lucy Letby, or others,” she said.
“Women who have had children, who are carers and educators, will regard people like Letby as lower than low. You can be sure they know she is in their prison – they may not know where, but they have read the papers and seen her on TV, and they know exactly what she looks like. It is the job of the staff to protect her from that.”
Speaking about Letby’s future fate, Vanessa said: “I imagine she’ll be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.” It was reported that Letby had formed a chilling bond with two dangerous prisoners while on remand at Bronzefield – baby poisoner Michelle Smith and Shauna Hoare, who played a role in the tragic murder of schoolgirl Becky Watts in 2015.
Vanessa said this close friendship is not unusual – and likely won’t be her last. She explained: “It’s very common for like-minded prisoners, such as child murderers, to form friendships with each other.
“I’ve seen it many times. They’re attracted to each other.”
But while Letby is expected to find friends behind bars, she will also be the target of attacks. “Prisoners are very good at making weapons out of just about anything,” Vanessa said.
“Worse than boiling water is boiling water with sugar (known as prison napalm), because it sticks to the skin and is very difficult to remove. I have seen prisoners cut with two razor blades melted in a toothbrush, stabbed with the shafts of plastic cutlery, and pool balls and batteries in socks.”
Vanessa, who worked in prison for 27 years and was head of security and operations at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, explained that prisoners with the most power control the prisoners in their unit and trade them for the use of a mobile phone or protection. “Those who provide the protection set the price.
“When they were allowed to smoke in prison, they set the price for what they wanted and what that entailed — whether it was a half ounce of tobacco or a Mars bar,” she said.
Today, there are half the staff working to manage the same number of prisoners, Vanessa explained, but “it’s as safe as it can be.” “There’s quite a lot of violence in prison these days because we have quite a violent society,” she said.
“There seems to be a lot of stabbings, gunshots, shootings, gang activity — and that spills over into the jail. When you have those people outside and they get arrested, you have that violence inside,” she said, explaining that violence around Letby is inevitable.
When Letby is nearing the end of her sentence, she can be transferred to a prison that specializes in older prisoners, and after she turns 66, she will no longer have to work. Vanessa explains: “In prison you have to work until you reach the statutory retirement age, after that you don’t have to work anymore.”
The former neonatal nurse’s lifelong commitment means she will die behind bars and her death will not be conspicuously marked by the prison service. “If Letby’s parents are alive when she dies, they will have a say in her funeral,” Vanessa said.
“But it wouldn’t be a big party because the prison service wouldn’t want that. Everyone who dies in prison, whether from natural causes or suicide, undergoes an autopsy.
“The coroner will then release the body to the family.” It is up to her father John, now 73, and mother Susan, 63, or her next of kin, to decide what arrangements will be made.
Until then, Letby will be forced to repeat her crimes every year of her life. “As a life prisoner, she will have a report written about herself by a staff member every six to 12 months.
“They will ask her about her abusive behavior and crimes,” Vanessa explained. And as for her treatment by prison officers, Vanessa said they would defer judgment and treat everyone with a conviction the same.
“My job was never to judge. Prisoners are judged by the courts and their peers. If they go to prison convicted with a warrant, that’s good enough for me,” said Vanessa, author of The Governor.
“I have never made assumptions about anyone’s innocence. That is not my job. I have seen prisoners go through the appeals process and be released.”
As for Letby, Vanessa believes the convicted serial killer will stay behind bars – and it’s safest for society if she does. With the former neonatal nurse still denying she wanted to harm a baby in her care, and telling the court she’s “not the kind of person who kills babies,” Vanessa can see no hope for redemption.
“Letby was found guilty and she’s in prison to keep society safe. She’ll spend the rest of her days in prison and that will give the families of her victims some peace. I assume they’ll try to understand why – but until Letby admits her guilt and explains to those families why she did what she did, I can’t see much redemption in that,” Vanessa added.
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