01 September 2023 , 11:52
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A number of unsubstantiated rumours concerning Lucy Letby's first few days at HMP Low Newton have been circulating online, with some claiming the serial killer nurse has already been subjected to a brutal attack at the hands of her fellow prisoners.
Multiple social media posts have shared the rumours as though they were news articles, complete with identical posts which read: "BREAKING NEWS Baby killer Lucy Letby has been attacked in Prison. Reports suggest she's been rushed to an outside hospital. in a critical condition after being slashed and boiled kettle water with sugar chucked in her face [sic]."
At the time of writing, the posts have clocked up tens of thousands of likes, despite being flagged as "false information" on social media platforms. Some of those spreading the rumours have even shared information about Letby's supposed injuries, with one person falsely claiming that it had been "officially validated" that the 33-year-old murderer "now suffers from partial loss of vision in her left eye". They went on to claim that she also has a "non-life-threatening cut on her neck".
Some posts falsely claimed that Letby was in a 'critical condition' (Facebook)
Letby will live out the rest of her days in prison (HMP Low Newton)Meanwhile, Full Fact, a team of independent fact-checkers who analysed the posts, explained that it wasn't uncommon for misinformation to spread when it comes to high-profile criminals. Similar rumours have previously been spread about Sarah Everard's murderer Wayne Couzens, as well as Thomas Hughes, the father who killed his six-year-old son, Arthur Labinjo-Hughes. Full Fact's report also claims that the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has confirmed the posts about Letby on Facebook are untrue. When contacted by the Mirror, the MOJ declined to comment.
Experts believe Letby, who has been handed a whole-life sentence, will be on suicide watch for a number of months, and that it will be some time before she's integrated with her fellow inmates. Given the appalling nature and notoriety of her case, it's believed there's a high risk of the former nurse being targeted by other dangerous prisoners.
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Professor Yvonne Jewkes, professor of criminology at the University of Bath, told the Telegraph: "She'll associate mostly with prison officers, her key worker in the prison, and one or two cleaners, but much of that interaction will be through the hatch in her cell door." Indeed, although some prisoners may enjoy certain privileges while behind bars, such as leave to attend family funerals, chartered security professional James Bore has advised it's "extremely unlikely" that Letby will be permitted to attend her own parents' funerals when the time comes.
Bore, the director of family consultancy Bores, told the Mirror: "Any day release for parents' funerals, or anything else, would be based on a risk assessment. I find it extremely unlikely that any sort of temporary release would be granted - for her own safety as much as anything else. Currently, she's being segregated within Low Newton, again to prevent her from being attacked. Social media rumours saying that she's been attacked already are misinformation."