The U.K.’s ‘most dangerous inmate’ will spend Christmas alone in an underground ‘glass cage.‘
Robert Maudsley is an English man who has been behind bars since 1974. He is reportedly the longest-serving British prisoner in solitary confinement.
His cell is said to be made up of a concrete slab, and a table and chair made of compressed cardboard.
Like every other day of his sentence, the 71-year-old will spend Christmas Day alone in his cell at Wakefield Prison.
In 1973, Maudsley killed John Farrell after seeing photos of children that he had abused. He then surrendered himself to the police, saying he needed psychiatric care.
After it was determined he was unfit for trial, he was sentenced to Broadmoor Hospital.
In 1977, he and a fellow patient locked themselves in a cell with a third inmate and reportedly tortured them to death.
Maudsley was convicted of manslaughter over the incident and sentenced to life in jail. He was relocated to Wakefield Prison.
According to The Guardian, the inmate decided to set out on a killing spree shortly after moving to the prison.
He lured Salney Darwood, who had been jailed for killing his wife, inside his cell and cut his throat before hiding the man’s body under his bed.
Maudsley reportedly spent the rest of the morning trying to lure others back with him, but no one would go with him.
Eventually, he snuck into the cell of Bill Roberts and attacked him as he lay in his bunk.
Following the killings, Maudsley is said to have calmly walked into the wing office, placed his weapon on a desk, and informed guards they would be two inmates short when it came to the next roll call.
As there were concerns for both his and others’ safety, Maudsley was moved into solitary confinement where he has remained ever since.
Maudsley, who suffered a horrific childhood involving physical and s**ual abuse, has been labeled ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ due to false reports he ate one of his victims’ brains.
While there’s no denying the inmate is capable of brutal violence, some have suggested he’s been hard done to.
In the Channel 5 documentary HMP Wakefield: Evil Behind Bars, Maudsley’s nephew said (per Metro): “I’m not condoning what he did, but… the people he killed were really bad people.”
Ex-detective Paul Harrison, who has interviewed Maudsley and other mass murderers, weighed in: “You’ve got the image of a monster… an evil man. I’d got all these preconceived ideas. If you didn’t know him and what he’d done, and you saw him in the bar… he’s a really intelligent guy, who made you smile.
“He’d talk about everyday things. A lot of serial killers are intense and narcissistic and talk about themselves. I didn’t find him like that at all. I thought, ‘Wow, this is something different to any serial killer.’”
Maudsley has reportedly said he’s ‘happy and content in solitary’ but has also compared his situation to ‘being buried alive in a coffin.’
He’s believed to have penned a series of open letters to the press, begging for classical musical tapes, a TV, pictures, and a pet budgie – which he promises not to eat.
Maudsley reportedly said: “All I have to look forward to is further mental breakdown and possible s**cide. In many ways, I think this is what the authorities hope for. That way the problem of Robert John Maudsley can be easily and swiftly resolved.”
