Shortly after nurse Beverley Allitt of Grantham Hospital was sent to prison in 1993 for killing four babies, I was asked to assess a nurse at the hospital where I worked.
It was feared she shared some of Allitt’s traits, including a tendency to show up in a hospital emergency room with made-up complaints.
It was a terrifying problem for me. There was no evidence that the person I was judging had done anything wrong in her department – but what if I deemed her fit and she went on a killing spree?
Finally, I came to the conclusion that there was nothing to do but watch closely for anything untoward; and several years later, I am very relieved to say, there were no suspicious incidents.
This illustrates how difficult it is to pick out monsters before their crimes are discovered.
In the case of Lucy Letby, of course, many warning signs were missed or ignored. But she was eventually caught and now faces life in prison.
In Lucy Letby’s case, of course, many warning signs were missed or dismissed, but she was eventually caught and now faces life in prison
DR. ANTHONY DANIELS: Any inmate found guilty of murder is automatically placed on suicide watch, on the reasonable assumption that anyone serving decades in prison may be tempted to commit suicide.
As a former prison psychiatrist, I know that the first job of the warden of the prison where she will serve her sentence will be to protect her from both herself and the other inmates.
Any inmate found guilty of murder is automatically placed on suicide watch, on the reasonable assumption that all those serving decades in prison may be tempted to commit suicide.
Suicide surveillance takes a number of different forms, from CCTV cameras or direct supervision by a dedicated prison officer to a system of regular checks every five, ten or fifteen minutes.
Since hanging – by far the most common way to commit suicide in prison – is one of the quickest ways to end it, periodic checks can be largely ineffective, such as the death of billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.
But even direct observation is not infallible. I once knew a man who slit his throat while being escorted by not one, but two officers.
Other inmates, aware of his intent to harm himself, had smuggled razor blades into his cell by excreting them in his food.
Lucy Letby will long remain a suicide risk no matter how she appears to the staff. The risk is greatest at the beginning of a sentence, but it never completely disappears, and staff will be all too aware that they will be severely – and very publicly – criticized if such a prominent prisoner commits suicide. commit.
However, a suicide watch cannot be continued indefinitely – certainly not for years or decades, because it puts too much strain on the staff. It is a matter of judgment when a watch is lifted, and it is not an exact science.
Take the case of serial killer Fred West, who hanged himself at HMP Birmingham in the mid-1990s when I worked there. He was able to do this because, after seven months in custody, he seemed cheerful enough to no longer be under constant surveillance. Likewise Dr. Harold Shipman, nine years later at HMP Wakefield. But two high-profile female inmates ended up coping much better with their time in prison.
Moors Murderer Myra Hindley, who died in 2002, and Fred’s wife, Rosemary West, two of Britain’s most notorious female serial killers, both seem to have become queen bees on their wings.
West even shared Victoria sponge cake recipes with her fellow inmates.
Shortly after nurse Beverley Allitt (pictured) of Grantham Hospital was sent to prison in 1993 for killing four babies, I was asked to rate a nurse at the hospital where I worked
Rosemary West shared Victoria sponge cake recipes with her fellow inmates while in prison
Moors Killer Myra Hindley, Died 2002, Also Turned Out To Be Queen Bee On Her Wing
“People on the outside probably think Rose West was beaten up in one of those bare cells like you see on TV,” a prison source said. “But let me tell you, it doesn’t look like it.
“Her life is as good as it gets in prison. In fact, it’s probably better than some of your outside readers.”
On the face of it, this is unfair: such people do not deserve a relaxed and pleasant existence, but no system in a civilized society can deliberately cause misery and hardship for decades.
And Lucy Letby will be a possible target for the rest of her life. She will live in fear of falling victim to a murderous attack by other inmates, some of whom want nothing more than to be the agents of an avenging justice.
It may come as a surprise to learn that many prisoners are far from liberal when it comes to sentencing, and a large number of them believe in the death penalty – at least for certain crimes, such as killing children.
Rosemary West was moved to Durham from HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Middlesex – where Letby served her time on remand – after prisoners conspired to assault her with billiard balls.
Letby, of course, will also be the subject of a series of psychological examinations and reports, and will become the “patient” of various aspiring therapists and healers whether she likes it or not.
Her biography will be combed through with a fine comb. The purpose of this is to find an explanation for her actions, in order to prevent similar incidents in the future.
One of the problems will be that psychopaths above a certain level of intelligence are often more than a match for the doctors, psychologists and social workers they encounter.
Letby is likely to stay with Bronzefield, at least for the short term. On his website, Bronzefield flaunts his forward-thinking attitude to rehabilitation – but it’s hard to see how this could be relevant in a case like Letby’s.
Given the gravity of her crimes, she will, or should, spend the rest of her life in prison.
No psychiatrist will ever penetrate that shield of innocent denial to discover what drove her to murder.