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Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Scottish Sun
I've interviewed murderers and rapists at UK's ‘Monster Mansion' prison – but one harrowing case left me broken
Over the course of her career forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes has been stabbed, had an eyeball dropped in her soup and been subjected to a horrific stalking ordeal CRIME TIME I've interviewed murderers and rapists at UK's 'Monster Mansion' prison – but one harrowing case left me broken Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SITTING across from the cold hearted murderer, Kerry Daynes barely flinches, in fact if anything she's trying to suppress a yawn. The forensic psychologist, 51, is talking to the serial killer Dennis Nilsen, responsible for the death of at least 15 people during his killing spree in 70s and 80s. 10 Kerry Daynes worked as a forensic psychologist for over two decades 10 Kerry started out at HMP Wakefield - otherwise known as 'Monster Mansion' Credit: Alamy 10 She says serial killer Dennis Nilsen was one of the 'dullest men she ever met' Credit: Rex However, his grisly past doesn't spark an ounce of fear in Kerry. 'Dennis Nielsen was one of the most boring people that I've ever met,' she says. 'He was a dull civil servant that could complain for England, he could have turned it into an Olympic sport. 'The only thing that made him interesting, really, was of course these hideous offences that he'd committed.' Hideous offenses are, of course, Kerry's bread and butter, having spent more than two decades analysing some of the UK's most dangerous criminals from Moors Murderer Ian Brady to infamous inmate Charles Bronson. With her cool and collected attitude it's a career she's thrived in but Kerry, who lives in Manchester, admits that she almost went down a very different path. Speaking as part of Life Stories, The Sun's YouTube series that sees ordinary people share their extraordinary experiences, she says: 'I really wanted to be an advertising executive. 'I thought there was loads of money in it and it seemed like money for a rope.' After taking psychology at university, she "fell into" criminal psychology after developing a crush on a boy in that module. 'There was one boy in particular that I really fancied and he was taking law, so I signed up for some law subsidiaries alongside psychology,' she says. Serial killer Dennis Nilsen killed my uncle - and wrecked our family 'I always say that I became a forensic psychologist by accident and under the influence of cheap cider and hormones.' INSIDE 'MONSTER MANSION' While nothing ever came of her crush, Kerry graduated with honours from Sheffield University and in 1996 she was taken on as a voluntary assistant at HMP Wakefield, dubbed 'Monster Mansion'. 'I looked around me and I saw faces that I recognised from the newspapers,' she says. 'I could put the mugshots to the people. 'I was put onto a research project which meant I had to interview every man in the prison who had both raped and murdered a woman in very great detail. 'The whole point of this research project, believe it or not, was that they felt that they might be able to develop a set of guidelines for women who were being raped so that they could minimize the chances of them being murdered. 'It's mind blowing to think about it now.' While Kerry admitted that initially she was out of her depth she quickly became adept at talking to some of Britain's most dangerous criminals. 10 Kerry spent more than two decades analysing some of the UK's most dangerous criminals including Moors Murderer Ian Brady Credit: PA:Press Association 10 She also came face to face with the likes of Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe Credit: Getty 10 Kerry worked closely with Britain's most notorious prisoner Charles Bronson Credit: Alamy 10 She became the victim of a stalker herself as the result of TV appearances Credit: Rex She opened her own private psychology practice in 2003 and worked as a freelance forensic psychologist for over 20 years. Often asked how she was able to cope with the harrowing task of analysing some of the UK's most depraved criminals, Kerry admits she developed a unique coping method. 'I was working in a secure unit and there was one guy that I worked with that was in his 80s who was deemed too unsafe to move anywhere else,' she explains. 'He'd murdered two women in a very sadistic manner and really enjoyed seeing women suffer and nobody warned me about the habit he had for female staff. AN EYEBALL IN MY SOUP 'He had a prosthetic eye and I was sitting having my lunch one day when he came up behind me and he literally flicked his prosthetic eye into my soup. 'So of course I screamed the place down, and gave him the response that he wanted so he continued to do it and I had to find a way of ignoring it. 'Eventually I would just scoop the eyeball out and I would put it to the side of my plate and I would carry on and that stopped him. 'And ever since I have applied that logical and rational approach to my work. 'I still to this day I actually go, 'You know what, Kerry, need to put the eyeball to one side'.' It was this approach that saw Kerry keep her cool while coming face to face with the likes of Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe. But Kerry admits that not all of her encounters were as uneventful as her one with Dennis Nilsen. 'In 2011 I was working at a forensic step-down unit, a little bit like a halfway house for inmates,' she explains. 'In this unit they had access to a kitchen and they didn't have sharp knives, but on this particular occasion, one of the residents was tasked with doing the washing up. 'We'd all had chicken kebabs on skewers and as I walked into the kitchen he ran at me and I thought that he punched me in the stomach. 'It wasn't until I looked down that I realised he'd stabbed me with a kebab skewer. Half of it was sticking out of my stomach and all I could think was, 'I really hope the half that's in me is clean.' It wasn't until I looked down that I realised he'd stabbed me with a kebab skewer Kerry Daynes 'I had a small operation that left me with some problems down the road but I was lucky to get away with only that. 'People did call me Donna for weeks after.' While Kerry has faced some truly abhorrent criminals she admits there is one that still plays on her mind and nearly forced her into early retirement in 2013. THE CASE THAT BROKE ME 'People always say, 'It must be awful talking to psychopathic killers' but it's the cold and callous child sexual abuse that really turned my stomach,' she says. 'It starts to take a toll in a while and you feel as though you're swimming through sewage and it was these cases where I truly struggled to have compassion as a psychologist. 'Around this time I was asked to take part in a documentary about the trial of Mark Bridger, who had murdered April Jones in Mold in Wales which involved me sitting in on the trial. 'That case got to me, it still gets to me, in a way none other had before. 'I think April, for me, represented all of those hundreds of other children who had been abused by the men I had worked with. 'After watching Mark Bridger's performance in court, I had an existential crisis.' 'At that point I felt that I couldn't do my job anymore because I was just really f***ing angry. 10 Kerry says it was Mark Bridger's trial that almost pushed her into early retirement Credit: PA:Press Association 10 Bridger was convicted of the murder of schoolgirl April Jones Credit: PA:Press Association Kerry changed direction and began working exclusively with female offenders. 'Of course they had committed terrible crimes as well but it wasn't an endless stream of child abuse,' she says. 'I really enjoyed working with women.' Kerry also got involved in prevention work, working closely with the Suzy Lampaugh Trust as anti-stalking campaigner, a subject close to her heart after being subjected to a horrific stalking ordeal herself. 'I was asked to go on television as a talking head for a true crime programme and for two years, there was a man stalking me and I wasn't even aware of it,' she says. 'Apparently he'd written to me, something to do with his daughter wanting to go into this field. And I'd written back, as I do. 'Then, for me, just out of the blue, I get a message one day saying that he's set up websites in my name and he wants me to contribute to these websites and perhaps we could do this as a business together. 'I politely declined but he turned nasty very quickly and began posting things on these websites, writing sexual things about me that aren't true and are damaging my career. 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. 'He was commenting on what I was wearing and it was evident that he was following me.' In one horrifying incident Kerry says that the man tried to run her over and on another occasion she found that her pet cat had been killed and thrown over her fence. STALKING HELL 'It was ironic that I was working with some of Britain's most dangerous men but it was at home that I felt most unsafe,' she says. 'I've worked with stalkers and I felt that I really understood it but trust me, when you are the victim of a stalker, you get that 360 degree view and I think the impact of it still lives with me today to some extent.' The man received a 12-month harassment notification in 2016. Despite her own terrifying experiences and the appalling cases she has dealt with, the psychologist doesn't view her clients as "monsters". 'I hate to hear them being called monsters,' she says. 'By doing that we're not recognising the people in our society who are capable of doing these awful things, we're somehow separating them from us. I've had men write to me saying, 'I would have killed my wife but I didn't because of you' Kerry Daynes 'They are part of us, a part of our society and I do believe that our society creates them and so I've always thought of them as human beings, though of course very flawed human beings.' While Kerry always worked with 'compassion' for her clients she says it never marred her decision making when it came to whether or not to rehabilitate an offender. 'What I am proudest of is the work that I've done that I believe has kept people safe,' she explains. 'If there's one person out there that could have been a potential victim and hasn't been that's why I do my job. 'I've had men write to me saying, 'I would have killed my wife but I didn't because of you' which is very reassuring I suppose! 'The work that I've done has meant that people that have left secure hospitals and gone on and lived safe and meaningful, productive lives is what I am most proud of.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
The prison life of twisted serial killer the 'Man in Black': How Peter Moore, 78, befriended Dr Death Harold Shipman, is 'extremely fit' and blames his murder of four men 30 years ago on fictional gay lover 'Jason'
For the monstrous 'Man in Black', life at one of Britain's most notorious prisons is a doddle compared to what he put his victims through. Horror film-obsessed Peter Moore, who was convicted in 1996 of the savage, sexually-motivated murders of four men, is currently an inmate at HMP Wakefield. According to a former prison mate who receives 'regular' letters from Moore, the killer is 'extremely fit' and leaves his cell 'daily' for exercise. A little over 20 years ago, it was during those trips out of his cell that the former cinema chain owner got to know fellow serial killer Harold Shipman - 'Dr Death' himself. Shipman - who in his role as a GP murdered an estimated 250 people, took his own life in 2004 - a day before his 58th birthday. Moore admitted in a letter that he was 'going to miss' Shipman, who he described as an 'educating and interesting person to talk to'. Shipman, who Moore said had been 'normal' when he saw him the day before his death, had allegedly been writing a book about famed French leader Napoleon Bonaparte. Police later interviewed Moore over the death of the monstrous doctor, who hanged himself in his cell just four years into his whole-life sentence. Moore had been at HMP Wakefield for more than two decades, having previously served time at Walton Prison. HMP Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, houses up to 750 of the most dangerous prisoners in the country. Each inmate has their own cell and most get a TV set in the rooms. Prisoners also get access to the gym and can do distance learning courses with the Open University. Wakefield also houses a braille shop, where prisoners work to convert books so they can be read by blind people. Moore is among the inmates who have helped out there. As well as Shipman, HMP Wakefield has also held double child murderer Ian Huntley and notoriously violent inmate Charles Bronson. And it was, until this year, home to 'Hannibal the Cannibal' Robert Maudsley, who was moved just weeks ago to HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire after going on hunger strike over the removal of his PlayStation. Maudsley, 71, has killed a total of four people. He got his nickname after murdering a fellow prisoner and leaving the body with a spoon sticking out of the skull and part of their brain missing. It gave rise to the false belief that he ate the organ, prompting the moniker. Other killers currently held alongside Moore include Jeremy Bamber - who was jailed for the killing of his adoptive parents, sister and nephews in 1985 - and paedophile former Lost Prophets frontman Ian Watkins. Between September and December 1995, Moore stabbed to death and then mutilated Henry Roberts, 56, Edward Carthy, 28, Keith Randles, 49 and Anthony Davies, 40. Moore, who owned a chain of cinemas and picked up his nickname because his choice of black shirt and matching trousers, carried out all the murders in north Wales, where he lived. Although he initially admitted to the killings to his lawyer and the police, Moore later retracted his confession. Instead, he blamed the murders on a fictional lover called 'Jason', who he is said to have named after the terrifying antagonist in the Friday the 13th horror franchise. Unsurprisingly, police and jurors did not buy Moore's claims. He was convicted on all counts and told he would never leave prison. Prosecutor Alex Carlile described him as having had 'black thoughts' and having carried out the 'blackest of deeds'. Moore admitted to his lawyer Dylan Rhys Jones that he had carried out one of his murders - the stabbing of Keith Randles - 'for fun'. Mr Rhys Jones recounted in his book, The Man in Black: Wales' Worst Serial Killer, that Moore told him of the killing: 'I just thought it was a job well done, and left and returned to my van.' In 2019, more than 20 years after acting for Moore, Mr Rhys Jones wrote to his former client in the hope of getting more material for his book. To his surprise, Moore sent him a 'jovial, friendly' reply and even agreed to see him in person. He later sent the lawyer turned author a 'resumé' containing details about his early life and background. The four-page letter began with Moore insisting that Mr Rhys Jones include an acknowledgement in the preface of his book stating that he 'apologises to the people of north Wales for his actions, but that "I don't admit being responsible for the four murders". The demand for an inclusion of a bizarre apology for crimes he claimed to not be responsible for left Mr Rhys Jones stunned. He wrote: 'Clearly I couldn't make any such promises – and didn't do so – but the main question I was left asking myself was, what was Moore apologising for? 'It seemed he was apologising for his conduct and saying sorry for the murders but also absolving himself of any responsibility at the same time. 'Was this an attempt, weak and ridiculous though it seemed, to relieve himself of the feeling of guilt?' Mr Rhys Jones went on to receive a Christmas card from his former client in December 2019. He had been due to meet Moore at Wakefield on February 10, 2020. But just a few days before the meeting, the serial killer told him in a typed letter that his legal advisors had told him 'not to attend visits from you and not to provide case material to you, as they don't want any further publicity prior to my case going to appeal.' Mr Rhys Jones, who admitted he was 'disappointed' to receive the letter, added in his book: 'I have no knowledge as to whether Moore really intends to lodge an appeal against either his conviction or his sentence.' In 2024 book Inside Wakefield Prison: Life Behind Bars in the Monster Mansion, authors Jonathan Levi and Emma French shed more light on Moore's life behind bars. A former fellow prisoner told them: 'Peter Moore I knew very well. He actually writes to me now on a regular basis. He has some minor health issues but is in good shape for his age. 'A very tall man with a full head of grey hair with a huge 1980s grey tash. Although he is from Wales, he speaks very well [posh] in a London accent. He is very articulate, clever man.' 'As sick as it sounds, but you want the truth, he actually jokes about his crimes. He claims they were committed by his alter ego Jason. 'His favourite sick joke about his crimes are he once dressed in a policeman's uniform, stopped a car and tied up a couple, male and his female partner. 'He said the man pleaded with him not to sexually assault the woman, he then said, "Sir, how dare you, I'm not here for her, it's you I want." 'Peter actually thinks this was funny. I have spent hours with him revealing all the details of his crimes. 'His voice is so polite and professional, very well spoken, and it is so odd to listen to a well-spoken man talk so much horror. 'Not the sort of thing you would expect from someone so well spoken. 'He is extremely fit. He goes out on exercise daily. He has no visits and when not working he cooks and keeps himself to himself.' 'He must have some personality issues because when he tells his stories he will give the impression it was him that committed the crimes all the way through the conversation, then he will blame Jason.' In 2013, Moore unsuccessfully appealed his whole-life tariff at the European Court of Human Rights.
Daily Mirror
14-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Unanswered questions in brutal unsolved murder as police hunt for real 'Wolfman'
Peter Sullivan had his conviction for Diane Sindall's heinous killing quashed after spending 38 years behind bars. Merseyside Police is now screening and eliminating 260 men from the investigation so far After serving 38 years in prison, Peter Sullivan's conviction for the murder of Diane Sindall was quashed by the Court of Appeal on Tuesday. The monumental moment confirmed his case as the longest-running miscarriage of justice in British history, and Sullivan, 68, who attended the hearing via video link from HMP Wakefield, appeared to weep and covered his face as the ruling was handed down. In a statement read by his lawyer, Sullivan said he is not "angry" or "bitter" about the miscarriage of justice, which saw him spend nearly 40 years of his life behind bars, and he said that it "does not detract or minimise that all of this happened off the back of a heinous and most terrible loss of life." The murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall in August 1986, was said by investigating police to be one of the "worst they had ever seen" - with the florist and bartender subjected to a "frenzied" and fatal attack. The convicted man had long protested his innocence and tried twice previously to overturn his conviction, with no success - but it was primarily new DNA evidence from the scene that does not match his profile that tipped the scale in his favour during his appeal. Now, there are many unanswered questions left about what happened to Diane - who her mother called "vivacious" and "bubbly" after her murder - and who was responsible, with her loved ones having to come to terms with the idea as Sullivan is released from custody, that no one has ever been brought to justice for this barbaric crime. Diane had been working a late shift at the Wellington pub in Babington - she had set up her own floristry business but was working there for some extra cash. She left the pub at 11.45 and started making her way home, but her blue Fiat van ran out of fuel and she stopped on Borough Road and began walking to a nearby all-night petrol station. Between midnight and 12.20 am, she was even spotted walking up the busy road by a few witnesses, but she never made it home, Merseyside police said. The following morning, on 2 August 1986, her brutalised body was found in an alleyway off the busy road. She had been sexually assaulted and viciously attacked, with the bitemarks found on her body earning her murderer the nicknames of 'Wolfman' and the 'Beast of Birkenhead'. In the initial trial, these bitemarks were said to match Sullivan's but this has since been contested. Some of her half-burned belongings were found on Bidston Hill, with witnesses claiming to have seen a man running away from a fire there on August 3. The attack was so horrific that it is burned into the memories of local women - with one writer who was a 13-year-old school pupil nearby at the time describing the terror her murder inspired in them. "Her battered corpse had been found the following morning by a woman walking her dog in a stone-walled alleyway adjacent to a busy main road. Her injuries were catastrophic. She had been beaten with a crowbar, her clothes ripped off and, to our horror, her nipples had been bitten off," Helena Anne wrote. She explained that the monstrous nicknames ascribed to the murderer made it feel as if "there was a Bogeyman out there, a Predator. He was dubbed 'The Wolfman' almost like he was a creature from the underworld that had escaped for a short period, and after the kill had gone back to his own world." However, the reality of this unsolved heinous crime is far more terrifying: it was not a mythical monster who committed it, but a man who has managed to walk amongst society unnoticed for forty years. Diane's mother described her as "such a vivacious, bubbly, happy-go-lucky girl, looking forward to getting married to her boyfriend. She was really a good family girl and everyone liked her," shortly after the murder. The 21-year-old had her whole life ahead of her and was due to be married to her partner David, with whom she had been in a relationship since she was 16 years old. Whilst Sullivan now finds himself a free man, the overturning of his conviction was a painful moment for Diane's family. Detective Chief Superintendent Karen Jaundrill of Merseyside police said: 'Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Diane Sindall who continue to mourn her loss and will have to endure the implications of this new development so many years after her murder. We are committed to doing everything within our power to find whom the DNA, which was left at the scene, belongs to. "Unfortunately, there is no match for the DNA identified on the national DNA database." Sullivan's appeal was granted by the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) after new DNA evidence from the crime was found that did not match Sullivan's profile, alongside "evidence to suggest there were possible breaches" of police procedure, including denying Peter legal representation in initial interviews and an "appropriate adult" which it is reported he needed as a vulnerable person. Duncan Atkinson KC, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said during the hearing: "Had this DNA evidence been available at the time a decision was taken to prosecute, it is difficult to see how a decision to prosecute could have been made.' Whilst the CCRC decision to refer Sullivan's case to the Court of Appeal was made in 2024, Merseyside Police reopened their investigation into Diane's murder back in 2023. "At the time of Diane's murder DNA testing was very much in its infancy and this vital evidence was not available to the original investigation team," they said in a statement, adding that they have tested Diane's family members and her boyfriend and the new DNA does not match any of these profiles either. DCS Jaundrill explained that Merseyside police are working with the National Crime Agency and are conducting "extensive and painstaking inquiries" to find out who the DNA from the scene belongs to, including screening and eliminating 260 men from the investigation so far. "We believe there are people who have information, or suspicions, about the murder of Diane in 1986 and I would appeal to those people to come forward, as the information they have could be key to finding who the DNA belongs to," Jaundrill said. "You may have been in the area of Borough Road on the night of the murder and may have seen someone acting suspiciously. If you were in the area, or had concerns about an individual at the time, let us know so our team can trace and request a DNA sample from the person you suspect, or a relative of theirs if they have perhaps passed away, or they have emigrated to another country." Lord Justice Holroyde, who handed down the ruling quashing Sullivan's conviction, said: 'The brutal attack which ended Miss Sindall's young life also blighted the lives of her fiancee, her family and all those who loved her. We offer our condolences to the bereaved.' Through his lawyer, Sullivan said in a statement: "I lost my liberty four decades ago over a crime I did not commit. We now know how very different the times we live in are from scientific advances, legal practice, and methods of investigation and questioning by the police. "What happened to me was very wrong but it does not detract or minimise that all of this happened off the back of a heinous and most terrible loss of life. I did not commit murder or unlawfully take the life of any person throughout the span of my own. 'As God is my witness, it is said the truth shall take you free. It is unfortunate that it does not give a timescale as we advance towards resolving the wrongs done to me, I am not angry, I am not bitter." Anyone with information should contact Merseyside Police social media desk via X @MerPolCC or on Facebook 'Merseyside Police Contact Centre'. You can also report information via website: or call 101 quoting incident reference 23000584997. Alternatively, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via their website here: In an emergency always call 999.
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Inside HMP Wakefield, where Peter Sullivan was wrongly held for murder
Appearing at the Court of Appeal via videolink from HMP Wakefield, Peter Sullivan wept and held his head in his hands as he was acquitted of a murder which has seen him spend 38 years in prison. The ruling on Tuesday is thought to have confirmed the 68-year-old as the victim of the longest-running miscarriage of justice in British history. Mr Sullivan was aged 30 when he was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 16 years, after being found guilty of the 1986 murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall in Bebington, Merseyside. Ms Sindall had been returning home from work as a barmaid when she was beaten to death and sexually assaulted, with her body left partially clothed and mutilated. On Tuesday, three senior judges quashed his conviction after new DNA evidence saw the Criminal Cases Review Commission refer him back to the Court of Appeal, following two previous attempts to overturn his conviction, the first of which came in 2008. The BBC reported that Mr Sullivan left West Yorkshire 's HMP Wakefield in a prison van shortly after 2:15pm on Tuesday, having spent a total of 14,113 days in custody. Nicknamed 'Monster Mansion', HMP Wakefield – a category A prison, and one of just a handful which houses a close-supervision centre – has been home to some of the country's most notorious inmates. Those include former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, who was jailed for 29 years in December 2013, after admitting a string of sex offences – including the attempted rape of a fan's baby. In 2023, he was reported to have been stabbed after being taken hostage by other inmates. Charles Bronson, one of the UK's longest-serving prisoners, has also spent many years at HMP Wakefield. In 2017, he married the late actor Paula Williamson at the prison. Three years earlier he was convicted of attacking governor Alan Parkins, while in 2018 he was cleared of allegedly assaulting his successor Mark Doherty. Robert Maudsley, a killer known within the prison system as 'Hannibal the Cannibal' is also housed at Wakefield, where he is reported to have killed two fellow inmates within weeks of being sent there in 1978. He is thought to have spent more time in solitary confinement than anyone else on record. Notorious killer Harold Shipman, a former GP convicted in 2000 of murdering 15 patients, died by suicide in HMP Wakefield in 2004. Colin Ireland, a serial killer who was convicted in 1993 after torturing five gay men to death in the space of three months, also died at the prison in 2012, reportedly from pulmonary fibrosis. Other former inmates include Ian Huntley, who was convicted in 2003 of the murder of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, and notorious serial killer Levi Bellfield, who was attacked by a fellow inmate at Wakefield in 2009. Housing around 740 inmates, Wakefield was originally built in 1594 as a 'house of correction'. While it was designated one of seven new 'dispersal prisons' in 1966, in response to five high-profile escapes, most of its buildings reportedly date back to the Victorian era. At the time of its most recent inspection in late 2022, nearly all of the prisoners held were serving over 10 years and nearly half were serving indeterminate sentences, including life and now discredited IPP sentences. Around 60 per cent of all inmates at that time had been convicted of serious sexual offences. Inspectors said at the time: 'Wakefield is an old establishment, with most wings resembling the traditional galleried institution familiar to the public mind. Some aspects of the prison's infrastructure were showing their age, but in general the prison was clean and well-maintained, and nearly all prisoners were housed in individual and well-resourced cells.' Wakefield has four residential wings – A, B, C and D – and nearly all cells at the prison are of single occupancy, according to the prison's Independent Monitoring Board (IMB). The main facilities include kitchens, snooker and pool tables, a gym, a library, an external exercise area and sports field, a chapel, education spaces, and a selection of workplaces. Judging safety, respect and rehabilitation at the prison to be 'reasonably good', inspectors said in 2022 that they found insufficient standards only in the quality of purposeful activity offered to prisoners. But they noted: 'In the context of the times and challenges faced by the prison system, this is one of the better inspections we have undertaken at an adult male prison recently.' However, in their latest annual report, volunteers on the IMB warned in February of a decline in safety at the infamous prison, with a 123 per cent increase in the number of prisoner assaults on staff, which totalled 136 in the past year. While inspectors praised the quality of prisoner-staff relationships in 2022 as a 'continuing strength of the prison', the IMB warned in February that a national effort to shore up recruitment gaps at struggling prisons – largely in the south – using more experienced officers at Wakefield and other northern jails was hampering levels of experience at the prison. That criticism came after The Independent revealed that the use of this tactic to 'paper over the cracks' of the prison staffing crisis had soared by nearly 350 per cent in the space of just four years, at a cost to the taxpayer of £16.2m in 2023 alone.
Daily Mirror
13-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
'I was jailed for 38 years for murder I didn't commit - I'm not angry or bitter'
Peter Sullivan, now 68, was dubbed the 'Beast of Birkenhead' after being wrongly convicted of the brutal murder of florist and part-time barmaid, Diane Sindall, 21, who was killed as she left work in Bebington, Merseyside A man who spent 38 years behind bars has had his murder conviction quashed in what is thought to be the longest-running miscarriage of justice in British history. Peter Sullivan, now 68, was dubbed the 'Beast of Birkenhead' after being wrongly convicted of the brutal murder of florist and part-time barmaid, Diane Sindall, 21, who was killed as she left work in Bebington, Merseyside. It was alleged in August 1986 he had spent the day drinking heavily after losing a darts match and went out armed with a crowbar before a chance encounter with Miss Sindall. Her van had broken down on her way home from a shift in the pub and she was walking to a petrol station when she was beaten to death and sexually assaulted. Her body was left partly clothed and mutilated. Mr Sullivan, who attended the hearing via video link from HMP Wakefield, listened to the ruling with his head down and arms folded, and appeared to weep and put his hand to his mouth as his conviction was quashed. In a statement read out by his lawyer he said: 'I lost my liberty four decades ago over a crime I did not commit. We now know how very different the times we live in are from scientific advances, legal practice and methods of investigation and questioning by the police. READ MORE: Peter Sullivan has murder conviction quashed in longest miscarriage of justice ever 'What happened to me was very wrong but it does not detract or minimise that all of this happened off the back of a heinous and most terrible loss of life. I did not commit murder or unlawfully take the life of any person throughout the span of my own. 'As God is my witness, it is said the truth shall take you free. It is unfortunate that it does not give a timescale as we advance towards resolving the wrongs done to me, I am not angry, I am not bitter. 'I am simply anxious to return to my loved ones and family as I've got to make the most of what is left of the existence I am granted in this world.' His sister, Kim Smith, said: 'We lost Peter for 39 years and at the end of the day it's not just us, Peter hasn't won and neither has the Sindall family. They've lost their daughter, they are not going to get her back. 'We've got Peter back and now we've got to try and build a life around him again. We feel sorry for the Sindall's and it's such a shame this has had to happen in the first place.' Mr Sullivan - who has always protested his innocence - has tried to get his conviction overturned on two previous occasions. After his lawyers took his case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) new tests were ordered which revealed Sullivan's DNA was not present on samples preserved at the time. At the Court of Appeal yesterday (Tues) Duncan Atkinson KC, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said analysis of the DNA showed it came from someone known as 'unknown male one'. He said it was 'one billion times more likely that the sample originated from unknown male one, rather than someone else, and it did not match the appellant'. He said: 'Had this DNA evidence been available at the time a decision was taken to prosecute, it is difficult to see how a decision to prosecute could have been made.' Quashing the conviction, Lord Justice Holroyde, sitting with Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Bryan, said they had 'no doubt that it is both necessary and expedient in the interests of justice' to accept the new DNA evidence. He said: 'In the light of that evidence, it is impossible to regard the appellant's conviction as safe.' Lord Justice Holroyde added: 'The brutal attack which ended Miss Sindall's young life also blighted the lives of her fiancee, her family and all those who loved her. We offer our condolences to the bereaved.' Merseyside police said the crucial DNA evidence was not available during the original investigation and officers were now 'committed to doing everything' to find the person whose DNA was left at the scene where Diane Sindall died. Det Ch Supt Karen Jaundrill said that more than 260 men had been screened and eliminated from the investigation since it was reopened in 202. She said: 'Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Diane Sindall who continue to mourn her loss and will have to endure the implications of this new development so many years after her murder. We are committed to doing everything within our power to find whom the DNA, which was left at the scene, belongs to. 'Unfortunately, there is no match for the DNA identified on the national DNA database. 'We have enlisted specialist skills and expertise from the National Crime Agency, and with their support we are proactively trying to identify the person the DNA profile belongs to, and extensive and painstaking inquiries are under way.' Speaking outside court, Mr Sullivan's solicitor Sarah Myatt said: 'This is an unprecedented and historic moment. Our client Peter Sullivan is the longest-serving victim of a miscarriage of justice in the UK. 'He has endured nearly 40 years in a category A prison for a truly horrific crime that he did not commit. Today, justice has been at last served, and his conviction has been quashed.' Miss Sindall was brutally killed in August 1986. Mr Sullivan was convicted of her murder in November the following year. Prosecutors said he had spent the day drinking heavily, and went out armed with a crowbar before a chance encounter with Miss Sindall. Evidence at the time suggested Mr Sullivan had recently borrowed a crowbar from a neighbour, left for London shortly after the murder arousing suspicion, and was placed near the scene by witnesses who gave his description. Miss Sindall's florist van had broken down on her way home from a pub shift and she was walking to a petrol station to get some spare fuel. She had been working late to pay for her upcoming wedding. She was ambushed, sexually assaulted and then beaten to death, her body left partially clothed and mutilated in an alleyway where it was discovered the following day. In November the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said that Mr Sullivan's conviction had been referred to the Court of Appeal on the basis of DNA evidence. Samples taken at the time of the murder were re-examined and a DNA profile that did not match Mr Sullivan was found, the commission said. Mr Sullivan applied to the body to have his case re-examined in 2021, raising concerns about police interviews, bite mark evidence and the murder weapon. He claimed he had not been provided with an appropriate adult during interviews and was initially denied legal representation. Mr Sullivan had previously applied to the CCRC in 2008 raising questions about DNA evidence, but forensic experts said that further testing was unlikely to reveal a DNA profile. He applied to the High Court for permission to appeal against his conviction in 2019 over bite mark evidence, but this was rejected by the Court of Appeal in 2021. Mr Sullivan had initially confessed to the murder, before retracting the claims. He said detectives forced a confession from him, initially barred him from seeing a solicitor and denied him support from an 'appropriate adult', who, it is said, should have been appointed to safeguard his interests as a vulnerable person. Jason Pitter KC, representing Mr Sullivan, described how the most recent scientific advances backed his client's contention that he was the victim of wrongful conviction. He told the Appeal Court: 'At this time this matter was originally before the court, there was not the scientific capability to carry out analysis of that material. The material was not able to be analysed. But since 2024, an analysis has been carried out on that material. The DNA from that cellular material found on the deceased … could be attributed to an unknown male.' Downing Street said the Peter Sullivan judgment must be carefully considered to get both him and Diane Sindall's family "the answers they deserve". A Number 10 spokesman said: "It's clear that Peter Sullivan has suffered a grave miscarriage of justice and our thoughts are also with Diane Sindall's family on what must be an incredibly difficult day. We must carefully consider this judgment and look at how this could have happened and get both him and Diane's family the answers they deserve.'
