I've met UK's most evil prisoners… Nilsen revelled in victims' pain but there was only one killer who truly revolted me

The Sun

10-05-2025

THERE are few women who would hang artwork from Britain's most notorious prisoner on their front room wall.
But then Kerry Daynes is no ordinary woman.
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The flame-haired forensic psychologist spent more than two decades analysing some of the UK's most dangerous criminals from Moors murderer Ian Brady to serial killer Dennis Nilsen.
So when infamous prisoner Charles Bronson - one of the country's longest-serving inmates - gifted her a painting, Kerry was proud to show it off in her living room.
Bronson, 72, gained a reputation as the UK's most violent prisoner after spending almost his entire life in jail from the age of 22.
He was first locked up for robbery in 1974, and despite two brief spells of freedom, has been kept in the slammer for a series of offences committed inside.
Over the years he has taken 11 hostages in nine sieges, attacked at least 20 guards and caused £50,000 worth of damage in rooftop protests.
Bronson was eventually given life in 1999 for kidnapping a prison art teacher who critiqued his drawings.
He is up for parole again this year for the ninth and final time.
This week the judicial parole board ruled his latest bid for freedom will be held behind closed doors after Bronson was denied an application for it to be staged in public.
Despite his background, Kerry, 51, of Manchester, believes Bronson is ready to be freed, but says the prison service has no idea how to release Bronson after his long incarceration.
She saw a softer side of the brutal inmate when she drew up a report for a previous parole board hearing during the Covid lockdown.
I worked with serial killers in notorious 'Monster Mansion' prison -'cannibal killer' fury was risked with normal act & worst crook used to defecate in wardrobe
Kerry said: 'I spent about 18 months assessing Charlie on Zoom and in person at Woodhill prison and he was very easy to establish a rapport with.
'He spotted my two dogs wandering around in the background of a call and asked if he could have a closer look at them.
'He started saying hello to them and told me how cute my pekingese, captain Furpotato, was.
'It was a surreal moment. Here was Britain's supposedly most violent inmate, speaking in baby talk to my dog.'
Fear of freedom
Kerry believes Bronson, who changed his name to Salvador in 2014, has spent so long behind bars that, if he wins parole, he will be apprehensive about being released.
She said: 'I don't think he's afraid to be released but he has understandable anxieties because he's not familiar with the modern world.
'He has never used a mobile phone or even an ATM machine. It saddened me when he told me he hadn't put his foot on grass for over 35 years because he's always been kept in concrete, high security or close supervision centres. It's unimaginable.
'What he really needs is slow progression out in the community but there's no way of doing that and the prison service has no plan for him, so he is languishing.'
Kerry says Bronson has 'always been quite straightforward' about his viscous tendencies, but added: 'In his world violence is is looked upon as necessary for survival.'
She said: 'His violence has been glorified to some extent. Charlie isn't proud of it but he's not ashamed of it.
'When he talks about some of his escapades, the criminal damage caused, putting chewing gum in locks that then need changed, staging protests, he's unapologetic because he saw himself as a prison activist, albeit now a retired one.
'He's very much mellowed and will tell you himself, he's far too old for some of the stunts he pulled now. He has no desire to cause problems, but still holds the powers that be in contempt.'
Paranoid con
Bronson, who Kerry described as 'paranoid' when he was first incarcerated, sent Kerry artwork two years ago after his last failed parole bid.
The crazed prisoner turned to art while trying to rehabilitate himself and has sold pieces to raise cash for various charities.
He has been married three times - including twice while in jail.
He was wed to Irene Kelsey when he first went into prison before tying the knot to second wife Fatema Saira Rehman, then 31, at Woodhill Prison in 2001. The marriage lasted four years.
His third wife was Coronation Street actress Paula Williamson who he exchanged vows with at HMP Wakefield in 2017. She died aged 38 in July 2019 after a drug overdose while they were in the process of having their union annulled.
Campaigners say Bronson should be set free because he has served longer than most killers - despite never having murdered anyone.
Faked hunger strike
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Meanwhile, Kerry says she experienced real evil the day she was called in to get into the mind of Moors murderer Ian Brady.
Brady, who tortured and killed five children with lover Myra Hindley, claimed to have spent years on hunger strike at Ashworth top security prison but Kerry says it was all a sham.
'He was making toast in his room at night, ' she says.
Describing the moment she first set eyes on Brady, who died aged 79 in 2017, Kerry said she was unable to set aside the anguish of the mothers of two of the monster's victims, Lesley Ann Downey, ten, and 12-year-old Keith Bennett.
She said: 'I'd grown up in Manchester with the stories of the Moors killers and Brady and Hindley were the reason we were told in the 70s never to talk to strangers.
'There was a late night local radio show and Lesley Ann Downey's mum, Ann, and Keith's mum, Winnie Johnson, used to call in. I think they were so distressed they just needed someone to talk to.
'When I shook Brady's hand all I could think about was the distress of those two women. I thought, 'What acts has this hand committed?'
'He was very emaciated and gaunt and his hand felt like a bag of bones. I looked at him and felt revulsion and that's not a word I use lightly in my job.
He felt like he could transcend society by breaking all of its rules, it made him feel superior
Kerry Daynesforensic psychologist
'Our meeting went downhill from there. He didn't want to be assessed or get involved with the process at all, no matter how I approached it.
'He was masking mental health symptoms. He was clearly suffering from psychosis but he wanted to be someone regarded as being 'normal'.
'He invested a lot of energy in appearing sane when he was at Ashworth but at times, when he was alone, the prison guards would hear him talking to himself.
'Brady was very complex and adept at hiding things. He liked to feel he was superior and wanted to be one step ahead.
'He felt like he could transcend society by breaking all of its rules, it made him feel superior.
'I find it interesting that he felt like this superior person yet he had to get Myra to drive for him because he didn't have a licence. It's a detail that breaks with his fantasy.'
Psycho killers
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Kerry was called in to assess a prisoner at Broadmoor security unit when she crossed paths with Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, who murdered 13 women between 1975 and 1980.
She said: 'I barely recognised him becasue by that point he'd been attacked by another prisoner and was quite psychotic.
'The last time I saw him he was very subdued and locked in his own through process as well as being heavily medicated.'
Who are the UK's worst serial killers?
THE UK's most prolific serial killer was actually a doctor.
Here's a rundown of the worst offenders in the UK.
British GP Harold Shipman is one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history. He was found guilty of murdering 15 patients in 2000, but the Shipman Inquiry examined his crimes and identified 218 victims, 80 per cent of whom were elderly women.
After his death Jonathan Balls was accused of poisoning at least 22 people between 1824 and 1845.
Mary Ann Cotton is suspected of murdering up to 21 people, including husbands, lovers and children. She is Britain's most prolific female serial killer. Her crimes were committed between 1852 and 1872, and she was hanged in March 1873.
Amelia Sach and Annie Walters became known as the Finchley Baby Farmers after killing at least 20 babies between 1900 and 1902. The pair became the first women to be hanged at Holloway Prison on February 3, 1903.
William Burke and William Hare killed 16 people and sold their bodies.
Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was found guilty in 1981 of murdering 13 women and attempting to kill seven others between 1975 and 1980.
Dennis Nilsen was caged for life in 1983 after murdering up to 15 men when he picked them up from the streets. He was found guilty of six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to life in jail.
Fred West was found guilty of killing 12 but it's believed he was responsible for many more deaths.
Serial killer and necrophile Dennis Nilsen, who killed at least 12 young men and boys between 1978 and 1983, was another of Kerry's subjects.
She branded Nilsen, who died in May 2018 aged 72, 'a bland and very dull career complainer' who took pleasure in revealing the gruesome details of his victims' ordeals.
Kerry said: 'I knew Dennis very well. He was so bland and complained about everything he possibly could, from the food in the canteen, the lack of heat in the cells, when people were available to visiting times.
'He would get involved in other prisoner's disputes too. It's something he liked to do on the outside. He would get himself involved with unions and really prided himself on being a socialist.
'He was very keen to talk about himself and would go on for hours if you let him.
'He would talk in depth about his crimes and I felt like he was reliving his offences for his own needs and gratification. He spoke about them in a very romanticised way.
'You would think he was talking about relationships he had. He would say he still very much felt connected to his victims and that, in some way, they had shared a unique experience. When he was disposing of the corpses, it was almost like he was ending a relationship."
Strangest ever case
Kerry has dealt with all manner of bizarre cases throughout her career but the strangest of all was a man who formed a bizarre attachment to his neighbour's pig.
She said: 'He kept stealing this pig despite being warned not to, then dressing it up, putting make-up on it and having relations with it.
'In another case, a woman kept a family member's body rotting in bed while she picked up their benefit payments.
'Her lawyer suggested I visit her at home and, when I got there, I realised why. She was a hoarder and couldn't let go of anything. Her house was full of stuff with just this little chair and TV in the front room surrounded by piles of belongings.
'It seemed to form part of her motivation.'
Kerry says the advent of the internet has exposed the extent of child sex abuse as sick perverts post online.
She said: 'I found these sorts of cases difficult. People are very much in denial about the scale of child sex abuse in the UK - it's far more prevalent than we'd like to admit.'
The psychologist reckons advances in police technology, including databases, DNA and fingerprinting, could spell the end of the serial killer.
'These people have become kind of pop culture celebrities but we won't have that many these days because we're better at detection,' she says.
'People are predisposed to want to pay attention to human beings that commit extreme behaviour and there's no more extreme than a serial killer.'
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