CURRENTLY languishing in prison, Lucy Letby’s 15 whole-life sentences for seven murders and seven attempted murders of babies means she will die behind bars.
And many will say good riddance to the nurse, dubbed the ‘Angel of Death’, who stands convicted of her heinous crimes – despite recent startling suggestions that she could be the victim of a huge miscarriage of justice.
The claims made by leading academics, statisticians and even doctors question the evidence on which Letby was convicted and will no doubt bring fresh anguish for the parents of the children whose lives were tragically lost.
While Letby herself continues to profess her innocence as she serves her sentences in HMP Bronzefield, she’s among a plethora of female monsters who will see out the rest of their days within the walls of the country’s toughest prisons.
And the harrowing reasons why they’re kept away from mainstream society and will never be released won’t be forgotten.
Here, Miranda Knox takes a closer look at the UK’s most dangerous and notorious female prisoners, who, like Letby, will die behind bars, and why…
Dubbed Britain’s ”most dangerous female prisoner”, Joanna Dennehy’s crimes were recently featured in new Channel 5 documentary, The Killing Spree.
In 2013, she was arrested after a ten-day killing spree, during which she killed three men and left two more fighting for their lives.
To walk up to someone in the street like she did and stab someone in broad daylight time and time again the way she did, with blood pouring everywhere… that is just evil.
Criminologist Christopher Berry-Dee
Psychiatrists later diagnosed her with “psychopathic, anti-social and emotional instability disorders”.
Her first victim was her housemate Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, before she knifed 56-year-old Falklands veteran John Chapman to death.
Later the same day she murdered her landlord and lover Kevin Lee, 48, and stabbed two more men, who were randomly selected.
Dennehy said she committed the murders because it was “moreish and fun”.
Speaking to The Sun, criminologist Christopher Berry-Dee said: “She’s the most dangerous person I’ve ever, ever, ever come in contact with.
“She’s not actually a big person and the knife she used isn’t that big dagger she was pictured holding but a pocket knife measuring about five inches.
“To walk up to someone in the street like she did and stab someone in broad daylight time and time again the way she did, with blood pouring everywhere… that is just evil.”
Sharon Carr is Britain’s youngest female murderer, and has been dubbed the ‘Devil’s Daughter’ after stabbing stranger Katie Rackliff, 18, more than 30 times in 1992 when she was just 12.
She was only caught after being overheard bragging about it while a young offenders’ institution for another crime, and police then discovered notes she’d written incriminating herself.
In one note, she wrote: “I was born to be a murderer. Killing for me is a mass turn-on and it just makes me so high I never want to come down.
“Every night I see the Devil in my dreams – sometimes even in my mirror, but I realise it was just me.”
She was convicted of murder in 1997 and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 14 years, and last year made a bid for freedom with the Parole Board reviewing her appeal.
One of the most notorious female prisoners of recent years, Rose West and her husband Fred raped, tortured and killed at least 12 women – including their own daughter – between them, between 1967 and 1987.
Their home in Gloucester, which became known as the “House of Horrors” and has since been demolished, was the location for the barbaric torture and murder of many young women.
The basement was turned into a sickening “sex dungeon”, and their victims were held captive, sexually violated and tortured.
The killing spree only came to light after the couple’s children discussed their sister Heather being “under the patio” with social workers, after they were threatened to behave or they’d “end up under the patio like Heather.”
Raised by a violent father, who regularly beat his children and raped her from a young age, Rose was just 16 when she met Fred, then 28.
In 1995 Rose was convicted of ten murders, while Fred, who admitted 12 murders, hanged himself while on remand.
In October 2011 Nicola Edgington brutally attacked Sally Hodkin, 58, with a butcher’s knife in the street, almost beheading her in the random violent attack in Bexleyheath.
She then tried to murder then 22-year-old Kerry Clark in a horrific rampage – six years after she had murdered her own mum.
She had previously been convicted of manslaughter and indefinitely detained under the Mental Health act.
Jailing her for a minimum of 37 years for Sally’s murder, Judge Brian Barker declared: “You are manipulative and exceptionally dangerous. What you did could not have been more selfish.”
Speaking to The Sun, former Detective Inspector Steve Keogh said: “She is without a doubt, not including terrorists, the one I have no doubt in saying if she was released she would kill again.
“She frightens me to be honest, I have never felt unsafe arresting anyone or confronting them but she is frightening.”
Maria Pearson, now 67, is the UK’s longest serving female prisoner, and has been locked up since 1987, after stabbing her ex partner’s new fiancée Janet Newton 17 times on October 18, 1986.
The murder took place just two days after Janet and Pearson’s former lover, Malcolm Pearson, had become engaged, with Pearson full of “jealousy and bitterness”.
She left her with injuries so severe police initially thought they were from a hit-and-run, and she was initially sentenced to 11 years, but has now served over 35 years.
As a result, she’s been dubbed the UK’s ‘forgotten prisoner’.
FOUR per cent of inmates in UK prisons are female but what drives a woman to kill?
Here, psychologist Emma Kenny explains:
“One of the most significant factors in cases where women kill is the nature of their relationships. Often, these crimes are committed against someone with whom the woman has an intimate connection, such as a spouse, partner, or child.
“Women kill out of a sense of revenge or jealousy. Betrayal, particularly in the form of infidelity, can provoke intense emotional pain and a desire for retribution. These women may feel that murder is the only way to address the wrongs they have suffered, leading to acts of violence that are often impulsive and driven by deep-seated anger.
“Mental health conditions can distort their perception of reality. In such cases, the individual may genuinely believe that their actions are justified or necessary.
“Women have also been known to kill in cases of Factitious disorder imposed on another, or what was once known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP). Women with this issue may induce illness in their children or those under their care to gain attention or sympathy. In the most severe cases, this need for attention leads to the death of the victim. These women often justify their actions by framing themselves as caregivers, even as they deliberately harm those they are supposed to protect.
“Some of the most infamous female killers, kill alongside men, often termed “partnered killers,” and they usually do so within complex and often toxic relationships. Their involvement can stem from various factors, including emotional dependence, coercion, or a desire to please or protect their male partner.
“Whilst there is a lot of discussion regarding nature, nurture, I personally believe that it is entirely plausible that some women are born with a genetic predisposition to be malevolent, violent and destructive and that irrespective of personal circumstances they will carry out evil deeds. Time and time again people look to excuse women, suggesting they were victims, who were manipulated by their partners, or who were treated badly themselves as children, as if this explains their heinous actions.
“Maybe it is time to be more honest and to acknowledge that some women, just like some men are plain evil.”
As told to Claire Dunwell
Former nurse Beverley Allitt was dubbed the ‘Angel of Death’ – a label which would later be attributed to Lucy Letby – after murdering four babies in her care in 1991.
At the age of 22, Allitt went on a deadly killing spree on the children’s ward, murdering babies either by insulin or potassium overdose, or injecting an air bubble into the bloodstream, causing lung collapse.
One victim Kayley survived being injected with an air bubble but was left with severe learning difficulties.
Her mum Sharon said in 2018: “You take a child to hospital and you think they are in the best place. This cannot be put in jeopardy. The families of Allitt’s victims can never get over what she did.”
Five other children, aged between two months and five years old, survived twisted Allitt’s attacks.
Allitt was given 13 life sentences, with a minimum of 30 years, and has been serving her prison sentence at Rampton Secure Hospital since 1993.
Chillingly, a documentary previously revealed how Allitt laughed when charged with the four murders.
