Robert Maudsley, dubbed Britain’s most dangerous inmate, has been ordered to spend the remainder of his life locked in a glass cell with no chance to appeal the decision. The 68-year-old killer of paedophiles had pleaded to live among other prisoners but was deemed too dangerous at HMP Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
Maudsley is confined for 23 hours a day in a small underground cell measuring 5.5 metres by 4.5 metres, surrounded by bulletproof glass. Inside the cell, he sleeps on a concrete slab and has a cardboard table and chair, with a toilet and sink securely bolted down. This underground cage was constructed in 1983, nearly a decade after his initial incarceration began.
As a teenager, Maudsley endured severe sexual abuse, which contributed to his intense hatred of paedophiles, many of whom he later murdered. His killing spree includes John Farrell, who showed him photographs of abused children, and Salney Darwood, a man who killed his own wife.
After murdering multiple prisoners, Maudsley was labelled a one-man terror behind bars and has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement. He will never be released.
In 2000, Maudsley made a desperate plea to the courts to allow him to die. He wrote: “What purpose is served by keeping me locked up 23 hours a day? Why even bother to feed me and give me one hour’s exercise? Who am I really a risk to? I feel that all I have to look forward to is psychological breakdown, mental illness, and probable suicide.”
He continued: “Why can’t I have a budgie instead of flies, cockroaches, and spiders? I promise to love it and not eat it. Why can’t I have a TV to see the world and listen to classical music?”
“If the Prison Service says no, then I ask for a simple cyanide capsule which I will willingly take.”
Maudsley was first imprisoned at age 21 after committing murder while working as a gigolo and was declared unfit for trial. Initially locked in Broadmoor Hospital, he later tortured and killed a child molester with the help of a fellow prisoner.
After being transferred to maximum security HMP Wakefield, he murdered two more men, including one he stabbed and smashed to death in a violent rampage.
Robert Maudsley will remain locked away for life, Britain’s most feared prisoner confined in a glass tomb beneath HMP Wakefield.
Originally published by UKNIP.
