Inside sickening crimes of 'Britain's most dangerous' inmate as he leaves 'glass cage'

He’s been dubbed “” and “Britain’s most dangerous prisoner,” but after more than 46 years locked away in near-total isolation, Robert Maudsley has finally been moved out of his infamous "glass cage".

The 71-year-old, who has spent nearly 17,000 consecutive days alone in Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire, has been transferred to HMP Whitemoor in March, Cambridgeshire - 125 miles away. There, he’s been placed on F Wing, a unit designed for prisoners with personality disorders.

But those close to him fear the move could be catastrophic. longer than anyone in the , living in an 18ft by 15ft bulletproof glass cell for 23 hours a day.

READ MORE:

Dubbed ‘Monster Mansion’, Wakefield became home after a string of chilling murders, including the killings of fellow inmates he believed to be paedophiles and rapists. He earned his terrifying reputation by killing four men, three of them while behind bars.

His reign of violence began in 1974 when he murdered child abuser John Farrell. Deemed unfit to stand trial, he was sent to Broadmoor Hospital, where in 1977 he murdered a fellow patient using a cut-down plastic spoon, stabbing him through the ear.

Though post-mortem reports disproved claims of cannibalism, the sensational nickname “Hannibal the Cannibal” stuck. In 1978, Maudsley murdered two more prisoners at Wakefield - one a convicted wife killer - and calmly told guards afterwards, “There’ll be two short on the roll call.”

The disturbing pattern of vigilante violence led the prison system to lock him away from all other inmates, building him a custom cell eerily reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter’s cage in The Silence of the Lambs. He described the experience as “being buried alive in a coffin".

Despite his horrific crimes, some who’ve met Maudsley say the man inside the cell isn’t the monster the public imagines. Former detective Paul Harrison, who interviewed him in 2018, described him as intelligent, thoughtful, and unlike any other killer he had encountered.

“He made you smile. He talked about everyday things. I actually wrote to the Home Secretary and even the Queen after meeting him,” Harrison said. “There are people worse than him in the system who get away with far more.”

Maudsley’s family agree. His nephew Gavin recently told Channel 5’s Evil Behind Bars that Robert accepts his fate, but is terrified of being housed alongside rapists and paedophiles - the very group he’s historically targeted.

“He’s asking to be on his own because he knows what can happen,” Gavin said. “Put him with the wrong people and he’s going to kill again. I’m not condoning it, but he never hurt a child or woman. The people he killed were really bad men.”

For the last five years, Maudsley has been in correspondence with Loveinia Grace MacKenney, 69, who said his recent letters show the toll the move has taken. “His handwriting is shaky,” she said. “He doesn’t have his TV, his radio, or any peace. He was a model prisoner when alone. Now he’s being victimised for no reason. This is a disaster waiting to happen.”

Last month, Maudsley reportedly went on a hunger strike over the removal of his and television - the few luxuries he had in his otherwise grim existence.

In a phone call to his brother Paul, he allegedly said, “Don’t be surprised if this is the last time I call you.” The hunger strike has since ended, but many fear the damage has already been done.

Even former inmates who spent time near Maudsley have spoken out, with one describing his decades in solitary as “psychological torture". They say the system, while trying to contain him, may have gone too far.

Now, after 51 years in prison and 40 years in a transparent box, Maudsley finds himself back among other inmates - a move that has left friends and family on edge.

The Prison Service has declined to comment on his transfer.

READ MORE: