Serial killer Joanna Dennehy loses High Court human rights fight

A serial killer who murdered three men, and stabbed two more, has lost her High Court battle to claim damages for being put into solitary confinement in jail.

Joanna Dennehy, who is 33 and from Peterborough, was given a whole-life sentence for her crimes, and is currently in Bronzeford Prison in Surrey.

She claimed human rights violations because she had been left "tearful and upset" after being placed in segregation at the jail, since prison guards allegedly found a breakout plot in her diary.

Government lawyers have conceded that the segregation period between 21 September 2013 and 4 September 2015 was technically unlawful because it was not authorised by former Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.

But a judge today said her segregation since then had been "in accordance with the law" and "at all times it has been necessary and proportionate.

Dennehy was refused permission to appeal, but her legal team were given five days to ask the Court of Appeal itself to hear her case.