Whole-life sentences: when life in prison actually means life

Lucy Letby becomes only fourth woman in UK to receive country’s harshest penal punishment

A man holds prison bars
There are only around 70 full-lifers behind bars in the UK
(Image credit: Sean Gladwell/Getty Images)

Lucy Letby will die behind bars after the 33-year-old nurse was sentenced to life in prison without the prospect of parole – an incredibly rare occurrence in the British justice system.

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