British Female Criminals

Called the ‘white widow’, British national Samantha Lewthwaite is one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. She has been linked to the Somali terrorist group Al Shabaab and was reportedly involved in the 2013 Nairobi Westgate shopping mall terror attack. She is the widow of one of the four suicide bombers who carried out the July 2005 London subway terror attacks.

A legendary female pirate of the early eighteenth century, Mary Read took to piracy when her ship was seized by Jack Rackham in West Indies. By then, she had started dressing as a man and had served in the military, which might have helped her to become a successful buccaneer. Captured in 1720, she died in prison five months later.  

Beverley Allitt is an English serial child killer, convicted ,of murdering four children and grievously injuring several others. Previously employed as a State Enrolled Nurse, she attacked 13 children over a 59-day period, out of which four died. She received 13 life sentences for the crimes and is detained at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

Juliet Hulme, better known as Anne Perry, is the bestselling author of the widely popular William Monk and Thomas Pitt series of novels. She changed her name after a 5-year sentence for killing her friend’s mother at age 15. She has also worked as a flight attendant.