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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Joe Cusack & Ryan Fahey

UK's most dangerous prisoner kept in glass box vows to kill again if given chance

One of Britain's' most dangerous serial killers has issued a chilling warning vowing to kill again if given the chance.

Robert Maudsley has been in solitary confinement in a glass cell since 1979 and is Britain's longest serving prisoner, having been caged for 47 years for the murder of four men in the 1970s.

He carried out his own wave of vigilante justice, even killing three of his victims while in prison.

In a hard-hitting documentary 'HMP Wakefield: Evil Behind Bars', Maudsley's nephew Gavin reveals how his softly spoken, well-read uncle is content to be kept in solitary confinement locked away from the rest of the world.

The serial killer says how he is "happy and content in solitary" and warned that he will kill again if ever released.

Unfounded rumours about the sick killer earnt him the nickname 'Hannibal the Cannibal' (Unknown)

Previously known as 'Hannibal the Cannibal,' Maudsley was once rumoured to have eaten part of the brain of one of his victims in prison.

While there is not thought to be any truth to the rumour, he has earnt himself a reputation as one of Britain's most dangerous criminals.

Maudsley, 68, was locked up for the murder of John Farrell, age 30, in March 1974.

Whilst serving a life sentence, he then embarked on a sickening wave of vigilante violence murdering three men.

  • David Francis, a convicted child molester
  • Salney Darwood, who was serving life for the manslaughter of his wife Blanche
  • William Roberts, who was serving 7 years for sexual assault of a seven-year-old girl.
Serial murderer Robert Maudsley has been locked away in a glass cell since the 1970s after he killed four men (Unknown)

In a letter to his nephew, Gavin, aged 40 and from Liverpool but now living in London, the serial killer says how he is happy and content in solitary confinement and warned that he will kill again if ever released.

The caged killer has been repeatedly turned down for requests to spend time with other human beings and has to live out his days in a cell especially built for him.

Measuring 18 foot by 15 foot, the cell is constructed from bullet proof perspex and has compressed cardboard furniture.

He spends 23 hours of each day in the cell, sleeping on a concrete slab and using a toilet and sink which are bolted to the floor.

Maudsley began working as a male prostitute before killing a paedophile who showed him pictures of children he had sexually abused (Pictured: B-Wing at Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire) (PA)

Maudsley, known as 'Uncle Bob', from Toxteth, Liverpool, committed his first murder in 1974, aged just 21.

After running away to London, Maudsley started working as a male prostitute. He then brutally murdered paedophile John Farrell in Wood Green London, after he showed pictures of children he had sexually abused.

Following the slaying, he handed himself in to police and immediately confessed his crime.

He was deemed unfit to stand trial and was sent to Broadmoor Hospital, home to some of Britain's most violent inmates.

Maudsley as a schoolboy (Liverpool Echo)

At first, he was a model prisoner and stayed out of trouble, but in 1977 he and fellow prisoner David Cheeseman locked themselves in a cell with child molester David Francis in 1977.

After a nine-hour torture ordeal, they dangled the lifeless body of Francis for prison guards to see.

Maudsley was convicted of manslaughter and sent to HMP Wakefield.

In 1978, Maudsley strangled and stabbed Salney Darwood, 46, who had been jailed for killing his wife.

General view of Wakefield prison, west Yorkshire where Maudsley lives in an underground glass box (PA)

He hid Darwood's body under bed before sneaking into the cell of paedophile Bill Roberts, 56, who had sexually abused a girl aged seven.

He stabbed Roberts, hacked his skull with a makeshift dagger and smashed his head against a wall.

He was later sentenced to life imprisonment.

In 2000, he launched a legal bid to the courts requesting to be allowed to die.

The new information about Maudsley has been revealed in a documentary airing tonight (BBC)

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In a letter he wrote at the time, he said: "What purpose is served by keeping me locked up 23 hours a day?

"Why even bother to feed me and to give me one hour's exercise a day? Who actually am I a risk to?

"As a consequence of my current treatment and confinement, I feel that all I have to look forward to is indeed psychological breakdown, mental illness and probable suicide.

"Why can't I have a budgie instead of flies, cockroaches and spiders which I currently have. I promise to love it and not eat it?

"Why can't I have a television in my cell to see the world and learn? Why can't I have any music tapes and listen to beautiful classical music?

"If the Prison Service says no then I ask for a simple cyanide capsule which I shall willingly take and the problem of Robert John Maudsley can easily and swiftly be resolved."

Elliot Reed, director of HMP Wakefield: Evil Behind Bars, said: "West Yorkshire's notorious HMP Wakefield Prison is known in the prison system as the Monster Mansion. It's a dustbin, a warehouse for the worst Category A prisoners. Home to some of the most terrible men in British criminal history, like Roy Whiting, Jeremy Bamber, Charles Bronson, and Robert Maudsley.

"Through interviews with ex-inmates, retired screws, and relatives of Britain's most infamous inmates, we unlock the cell doors and uncover the secrets of life inside the UK's toughest jail.

"We learn about life on the mixed wings where hated sex offenders and child killers are abused and attacked, and even killed, as they fight for their lives. We hear about the tough regime and difficult conditions of Wakefield's notorious punishment block, F-Wing, the segregation unit, solitary confinement for the worst of the worst. And we find out from exclusive personal letters written to his nephew Gavin how the most dangerous prisoner in Britain, Robert Maudsley, is coping alone in his specially glass cage in the basement of the prison.

"Exclusive phone-calls from one of the UK's longest serving inmates Charles Bronson reveal first-hand what life is really like as inmate in Wakefield Prison.

"Bronson's son George recounts how his life changed forever when he was summoned to the prison to meet the Dad, he never knew he had. And we hear never before told stories from inside the walls of Wakefield about Jeremy Bamber, arguably as famous for his fight to get out of prison than for the crimes he committed to be sent there.

"Many of HMP Wakefield inmates are in for life, some will never be released and will die as pensioners behind bars. So, should we be treating the worst of the worst more humanely in jail? Or does society prefer to lock them up, throw away the key and forget about them?"

  • HMP Wakefield: Evil Behind Bars airs tonight (Monday) on Channel 5 at 9pm.

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