Serial killer Joanna Dennehy loses damages claim

Serial killer Joanna Dennehy has lost her High Court claim that she is entitled to damages for human rights violations after being placed in solitary confinement in jail.

Dennehy, 33, was given a whole-life sentence at the Old Bailey for murdering three men and stabbing two more.

She claimed that she had been left “tearful and upset” after being placed in segregation at HMP Bronzefield near Ashford, Surrey, since prison guards allegedly found a breakout plot in her diary.

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

But Mr Justice Singh ruled that her segregation had been “in accordance with law” and “at all material times it has been necessary and proportionate”.