Smiling among her friends aged 11, schoolgirl Lucy Letby – who would grow up to be Britain's most prolific and sadistic child killer

Beaming in her uniform with her blonde hair neatly combed, an unremarkable pupil poses for her official school photograph.

But that seemingly ordinary schoolgirl was Lucy Letby, who grew up to be the neonatal nurse handed 14 whole-life jail terms this week – for being Britain’s worst ever child killer.

The shot was taken in 2001, making her just 11 and in her first years of secondary school. Schoolmates from Aylestone High, her local comprehensive, have told how there was nothing that made them suspect she would go on to commit such heinous crimes.

One shocked former pupil, who asked not to be named, told how Letby was ‘part of the geeky crowd, a very quiet, closed group’, adding: ‘I could never have imagined anybody in my form at school could commit such crimes.’

There was, however, ‘just an element of weirdness about her’, they admitted.

Beaming in her uniform with her blonde hair neatly combed, an unremarkable pupil poses for her official school photograph

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What drove Letby, 33, to murder seven babies and harm six others during a year-long spree at the Countess of Chester Hospital remains a mystery

‘When you go to high school you talk to most people, even if you don’t become friends. But I can’t recall ever having a conversation with her.’

‘Nothing stands out. Vanilla is a good description.’

What drove Letby, 33, to murder seven babies and harm six others during a year-long spree at the Countess of Chester Hospital remains a mystery.

Police describe her as ‘beige’ owing to her seemingly unremarkable life – she was a plain, single woman who lived alone in a suburban semi and loved going to salsa classes with friends.

She was born the only child of retail boss John, 77, and his accounts clerk wife, Susan, 63, and was raised in a 1930s semi-detached home in a quiet cul-de-sac in the cathedral city of Hereford.

Another former schoolmate said: ‘It’s just hard to even begin to understand what went wrong.’

They also claimed that Letby’s parents had isolated themselves since their daughter’s arrest, adding: ‘I think he [Lucy’s father] and the mum struggle to understand any of this.’