The twisted killer women handed whole-life orders who will die behind bars
21 August 2023, 16:31
Lucy Letby has become the fourth woman in the UK to get a whole-life order after murdering seven babies and trying to kill six more.
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Lucy Letby - the most prolific child serial killer in modern British history - will die behind bars after receiving a whole-life order, with no chance of parole, for each of the offences for which she was found guilty.
Whole-life orders are the most severe punishment available in the country's criminal justice system and are reserved for those who commit the most heinous crimes.
The sentencing delivered on Monday made her only the fourth woman in the UK to face life locked up - but who are the other three?
Rose West
Rose West and her husband, Fred West, raped, tortured and murdered an unknown number of people.
The Wests are known to have murdered at least 12 girls and women between 1967 and 1987,
When police were led to the couple's "house of horror", they uncovered nine girls' bodies. Three more bodies were found at a later date.
Sentencing West, the judge said her crimes were "appalling and depraved".
Joanna Dennehy
Peterborough ditch killer Joanna Dennehy is serving a life sentence for murdering three men in 2013.
The victims' bodies were discovered in ditches on the roadside at various locations.
She also travelled to Hereford and attempted to kill two others but they survived her attack.
All of her victims were stabbed to death.
While being sentenced, Dennehy was seen laughing in the dock as the judge said she was "a cruel, calculating, selfish and manipulative serial killer".
Myra Hindley (died 2002)
Moors murderer Myra Hindley and her partner, Ian Brady, were both given whole-life orders after a 15-day trial.
They were convicted of the murders of Lesley Ann Downey, aged 10, in 1964, and Edward Evans, aged 17, in 1965.
Brady was also convicted of the murder of John Kilbride, 12, and Hindley was found guilty of being an accessory.
The pair later confessed to two more murders - Pauline Reade, 16, and 12-year-old Keith Bennett.
The bodies were buried on Saddleworth Moor, near Manchester, resulting in the killings being titled "Moors murders".
Hindley died from respiratory failure at the age of 60.
