Latest news with #Maudsley
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Secrets of 'Monster Mansion' prison and the UK's most dangerous inmates
Originally built as a house of correction in 1594, HMP Wakefield was rebuilt in the Victorian era and has a long history of housing our worst criminals, including the longest serving prisoner in the UK penal system Wakefield jail is nicknamed 'Monster Mansion' because it is home to some of the country's most depraved criminals. Originally built as a house of correction in 1594, it was rebuilt in the Victorian era and has a long history of housing our worst criminals. The Mirror previously reported how the longest serving prisoner in the UK penal system, "Hannibal the Cannibal' Robert Maudsley, spent his 51st Christmas behind bars last year. He holds the world record for solitary confinement, kept apart from the rest of the prison population for almost 46 years. He was first locked up for murder when he was 21 in 1974. On July 28, 1978, already serving life for double murder, Maudsley killed two fellow prisoners in Wakefield. He was said to have told a prison guard: 'There'll be two short on the roll call.' Since that day more than 46 years ago, he has spent his time in solitary. In 1983, after prison staff, including barbers, declined to see him alone, a special cell was built for him at Wakefield. His former 'neighbour' Charlie Bronson was locked up in the cell next to Maudsley's before he was moved to HMP Woodhill, Milton Keynes. During his years in Wakefield, Bronson told us about his daily 2,500 press-ups (94 every 30 seconds). He dabbled in his art, wrote for his web site, and worked on books including his life story. The calm voice at the end of the line was at odds with the public persona. "They call me Britain's most violent man," he told me before he launched his 2008 autobiography. "Every time I see it in the paper I feel like I am reading about someone else." Locked away for 23 hours a day in a 24 ft by 10 ft cell "within a cell", the view from his window a brick wall, he used exercise, art and Radio Five Live to beat the dark hours of solitude, and said proudly: "I am the King of Isolation". His stance was simple: "I believe I should have been punished. I have been punished. "Now it is time to go home, I have done my bird." It is the argument which he will now put before a Parole Board hearing. He was released in 1987 and became a bare-knuckle boxer but was jailed the following year for another armed robbery. He has spent most of his life inside for a string of attacks on warders and prisoners, earning him the reputation of Britain's most violent inmate. So far, the authorities have refused to free him due to his violent episodes behind bars. Evil child killer Roy Whiting told prison warders he was too terrified to sleep in a Wakefield cell because it is haunted by the ghost of Dr Death Harold Shipman. Whiting, who murdered eight-year-old Sarah Payne, was spooked by eerie noises and "strange goings on". He had been moved into Wakefield Prison's cell D336, the place where serial killer Shipman hanged himself 21 years ago. He complained about the 'haunting'. Many in Wakefield believed the cell was jinxed. Another inmate was found hanged there in 1987. Shipman, 58, from Hyde, Greater Manchester, murdered 284 of his patients and was sentenced to 15 life sentences. He worked on a biography of Napoleon while on D-Wing. He preferred to stay inside his cell reading books and newspapers and writing his prison diary. It contained several entries about his suicide plans. In the past, Wakefield has housed Ian Huntley. Mass murderer Jeremy Bamber is believed to still be housed there. Ian Watkins, the disgraced Lostprophets frontman, served time there after pleading guilty to 13 sex offences. After being caught with a mobile phone behind bars in 2019, Watkins told a court that he was locked up with "murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers". "The worst of the worst," he told the judge, before another 10 months were added to his sentence. In August 2023, the Mirror revealed that Watkins was fighting for his life after three inmates held him hostage at Wakefield. Officers had to wait for an armed 'Tornado' team of specially trained riot officers to break up the situation with grenades. It was claimed that the former musician suffered from stab wounds and beatings. A 2021 Channel 5 documentary, HMP Wakefield: 'Evil Behind Bars', heard how sex offenders were considered the "lowest form of life" in the prison. One contributor to the programme referred to the inmates as the "dregs of society". Maudsley, born Robert Mawdsley on Merseyside in 1953, was first sent to Broadmoor secure hospital in 1974 after garrotting John Farrell who picked him up for sex. He earned his frightening nickname 'Hannibal the Cannibal' after killing three men being detained with him: a fellow Broadmoor patient in 1977, followed by two prisoners in 1978 when he went on the rampage in Wakefield. His nephew Gavin Mawdsley, from Liverpool, told Evil Behind Bars that his uncle had accepted his fate. He said: "He's asking to be on his own because he knows what can happen. Put him with rapists and paedophiles - I know because he told us - he is going to kill as many paedophiles as he can. "I'm not condoning what he did. But he didn't kill a child or woman. The people he killed were really bad people." A murderer who spent time in the cell next to Mawdsley told the programme: "To hold someone in an underground cage for 40 years is unforgivable. What the system has done to him amounts to psychological torture." The Ministry of Justice insisted there was 'no such thing as solitary confinement in our prison system'. A Prison Service spokesperson added: "Some offenders will be segregated if they pose a risk to others. They are allowed time in the open air every day, visits, phone calls, and access to legal advice and medical care like everyone else." The placement of offenders in segregation is 'reviewed regularly'.
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Girlfriend of Britain's longest serving prisoner 'can get him through anything'
Robert Maudsley admits that he may never see his 'sweet girlfriend' Loveinia MacKenney but says her love 'can help him through everything' as he opens up about his new romance Britain's longest serving prisoner has opened up about how love is getting him through his utter isolation in solitary confinement. Nicknamed Hannibal the Cannibal by fellow inmates, Robert Maudsley, 71, was once identified as the most dangerous inmate in the country. He admits that he will never get to see his 'sweet girlfriend' Loveinia MacKenney, a mum-of-one, who has been writing to him for around five years. In one loving missive from behind bars, he told her: "Stay strong, keep smiling. All of me is yours." In another, he wrote: "The love you have shown can get me through anything." Maudsley has spent decades in solitary confinement after killing four people, including three fellow inmates, one in Broadmoor and another two in Wakefield jail. He spent many years in a 'glass cage' cell in the West Yorkshire high security jail dubbed 'Monster Mansion', where he was kept apart from the rest of the prison population. But he has written a string of letters to pledge his undying love for Loveinia. The mum-of-one told how they had formed a special bond. Maudsley had spent 46 years in solitary confinement before his transfer to Whitemoor jail in Cambridgeshire on April 8. He has also written to her from there, telling her: "My beautiful Loveinia, the more love we experience in our lives, the more the bad experiences tend to fade into the distance and we can live our lives to the full." Loveinia says: "They call him Hannibal the Cannibal. I know that he is far from that." She has pledged to do all she can to try and improve his situation behind bars, though he told her in a recent missive that she may not be able to visit him. Londoner Loveinia, who cares for her disabled adult son Thomas, 46, felt an instant connection with Maudsley. They have been writing to each other for several years. She first saw him in the 2020 TV documentary 'Killer in the family'. Maudsley became the UK's longest serving prisoner after the death of Moors murderer Ian Brady, who served 51 years, in 2017. He went on hunger strike earlier this year after removal of some of his privileges, but has since started eating and drinking again. His move to Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire came after a row over the removal of his privileges. It is understood they have since been reinstated, but the move makes it difficult for family members to visit him from his native Merseyside.
Daily Record
21-05-2025
- Daily Record
Britain's longest serving prisoner is 'slowly dying' under new 'barbaric' regime
Nicknamed Hannibal the Cannibal due to his crimes, Robert Maudsley is struggling after being moved to a new prison as he is 'especially vulnerable' to infection. A new "barbaric" jail regime is slowly killing Britain's longest serving prisoner, according to his new love. Robert Maudsley, 71, suffered Covid during the pandemic and has been left especially vulnerable to infection as a result of his extraordinary time in solitary confinement. For 47 years, a quadruple killer, nicknamed 'Hannibal the Cannibal' by fellow prisoners, he has been kept apart from the rest of the prison population. It now equates to more than 17,000 consecutive days alone in his cell. But he was moved from Wakefield jail, known as Monster Mansion, in April after a row over the 'privileges' there, reports the Mirror. He had been on hunger strike, refusing food over several weeks, though he has started eating again. He was taken to Whitemoor jail, Cambridgeshire, where he is being held on a specialist wing. His brothers Paul and Kevin have found it hard to visit him from their native Merseyside. He found love with Loveinia Grace Mackenney, 69, who writes to him regularly. Loveinia said: "He had Covid 19 twice and almost died. "This new regime is slowly killing him. I believe they knew that was a risk when they moved him. He is totally different now, he cannot write the way he did before because he thinks his letters are being checked, he has not had his TV or radio, it is barbaric." Loveinia is concerned that the hunger strike and new regime are combining to slowly kill Maudsley. In his letters to her, he told of his miserable childhood, taken into care due to neglect and beatings at home. He was first locked up for manslaughter when he was 21 in 1974. On July 28, 1978, already serving life, Maudsley killed two fellow prisoners in Wakefield jail. He was said to have told a prison guard: 'There'll be two short on the roll call.' He had already killed a fellow patient in Broadmoor secure hospital, in 1974. The victim was found with a plastic spoon blade in his ear, which led to Maudsley's nicknames, first 'Spoons', then Hannibal the Cannibal, amid claims that he had eaten his brain. Special provision was made for him inside Wakefield, and his cell was compared to one used to house Dr Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins, in his Oscar winning role in the 1991 film 'Silence of the Lambs'. The Prison Service declined to comment on individual prisoners. However, a source stressed that no prisoners are kept in solitary confinement in the UK penal system. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
Daily Mirror
21-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Britain's longest serving prisoner kept in glass box is 'slowly dying'
Nicknamed Hannibal the Cannibal due to his crimes, Robert Maudsley is struggling after being moved to a new prison as he is 'especially vulnerable' to infection A new jail regime is slowly killing Britain's longest serving prisoner, according to his new love. Robert Maudsley is about to turn 72 and twice suffered Covid during the pandemic. He has been left especially vulnerable to infection as a result of his extraordinary time in solitary confinement. A quadruple killer, nicknamed 'Hannibal the Cannibal' by fellow prisoners, he has been kept apart from the rest of the prison population for 47 years. It now equates to more than 17,000 consecutive days alone in his cell. But he was moved from Wakefield jail, known as Monster Mansion, in April after a row over the 'privileges' there. He had been on hunger strike, refusing food over several weeks, though he has started eating again. He was taken to Whitemoor jail, Cambridgeshire, where he is being held on a specialist wing. His brothers Paul and Kevin have found it hard to visit him from their native Merseyside. The Mirror told how he found love with Loveinia Grace Mackenney, 69, who writes to him regularly. Londoner Loveinia told us: "He had Covid 19 twice and almost died. "This new regime is slowly killing him. I believe they knew that was a risk when they moved him. He is totally different now, he cannot write the way he did before because he thinks his letters are being checked, he has not had his TV or radio, it is barbaric." Loveinia is concerned that the hunger strike and new regime are combining to slowly kill Maudsley. In his letters to her, he told of his miserable childhood, taken into care due to neglect and beatings at home. He was first locked up for manslaughter when he was 21 in 1974. On July 28, 1978, already serving life, Maudsley killed two fellow prisoners in Wakefield jail. He was said to have told a prison guard: 'There'll be two short on the roll call.' He had already killed a fellow patient in Broadmoor secure hospital, in 1974. The victim was found with a plastic spoon blade in his ear, which led to Maudsley's nicknames, first 'Spoons', then Hannibal the Cannibal, amid claims that he had eaten his brain. The post mortem made clear that was not the case. Special provision was made for him inside Wakefield, and his cell was compared to one used to house Dr Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins, in his Oscar winning role in the 1991 film 'Silence of the Lambs'. The Prison Service declined to comment on individual prisoners. But a source stressed that no prisoners are kept in solitary confinement in the UK penal system.
Daily Mirror
05-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Fears for 'UK's most dangerous prisoner' after girlfriend receives ominous letter
Robert Maudsley, 71, was removed from his famous 'glass cage' in Wakefield and is now being held in Whitemoor jail in Cambridgeshire, where his family struggle to see him Fears are growing for Britain's longest serving prisoner after his hunger strike took a devastating toll on his health. Robert Maudsley, 71, had his privileges removed and refused food in protest over several weeks. But it has 'pushed him to the edge' after he was taken out of his specially built 'glass cage' in Wakefield, the jail in West Yorkshire nicknamed ' Monster Mansion ', and transferred 125 miles away. It means his brothers Paul and Kevin will struggle to visit from their homes on Merseyside. And he has lost some of the privileges which made his solitary confinement more bearable after 46 years alone in his cell. Maudsley, a quadruple killer nicknamed "Hannibal the Cannibal' was once seen as the UK's most dangerous prisoner. The Mirror told how he found love with Loveinia Grace Mackenney, 69, who writes to him regularly. He is the UK's longest serving prisoner after 51 years behind bars. He was moved to Whitemoor prison in Cambridgeshire on April 8, apparently after a row over his Play station in his cell. Londoner Loveinia believes he is 'seriously ill' following his latest letter to her, dated April 21. She said: "They have taken away his privileges. His latest letter to me is so different from the ones from Wakefield. I am really worried about him." He is on F wing at Whitemoor in a unit specifically designed for inmates with personality disorders. "His regime is more restricted and he seems defeated, he usually pours his heart out, this latest letter was awful," added Loveinia. "The hunger strike was dangerous for him, it went on for several weeks and at 71 years of age, that has pushed him to the edge. "This is the system and what it has done to him, it is rotten to the core. The prison service is failing in its duty of care to him." Maudsley told her that he was keeping a copy of the letter. It was signed formally, and did not use his usual terms of endearment. Instead Maudsley told her: 'I have a hard written copy for my files". She added: "I have boxes of letters from him but he has never written anything like this before. "Paul and Kevin his brothers will not be able to get there because he is so far away now so he is losing his family time too. "He is far less likely to get visits and yet again they are taking his rights away. 'He is a totally different person, there are no feelings there. He told me that his rights are being curtailed; he has nothing to look forward to if his brothers cannot go and see him. "He is a human being and he needs that. What are they trying to do to him? I felt totally alone before we found each other. People say he is a monster, but I know that is not the case. "He was targeted when he was very young because he was so vulnerable in the prison system. His family thought that he was dead for many years after he was taken into care." First jailed in 1974 for killing child abuser John Farrell, 30, Maudsley has killed three men while behind bars. He warned his captors that he could not bear being alongside rapists and paedophiles on a prison wing before his move to his specially built cell. After killing his last two victims, he was said to have told a Wakefield guard: 'There'll be two short on the roll call." After the two murders of 1983, he spent 23 hours a day in a cell 18 ft by 15 ft wide, which he described as being buried alive in a concrete coffin. Maudsley had previously killed a fellow patient in Broadmoor secure hospital in 1974. The victim was found with a plastic spoon blade in his ear, which led to his prison nicknames; first 'Spoons', then Hannibal the Cannibal, amid claims that he had eaten his victim's brain. The post mortem made clear that was not the case, but the nickname stuck. His brother Paul, 74, told of a phone call with him in March when Maudsley told him: "Don't be surprised if this is the last time I call you'. He has since ended his hunger strike. The Prison Service declined to comment.
