Robert Maudsley, 72, nicknamed ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ by his fellow inmates, is Britain’s longest serving prisoner and was moved from Wakefield prison to Whitemoor, Cambs., last April. – but now he is set to be moved again.
Britain’s longest serving prisoner is about to be moved again.
Robert Maudsley, 72, nicknamed ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ by his fellow inmates, was moved from Wakefield prison to Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire last April.
He had spent decades in a cell with a Perspex window so staff could monitor his movements. But he believes he is about to be moved again.
His partner Loveinia MacKenney, 71, voiced her concerns amid claims that quadruple killer Maudsley is being ‘ghosted’ by staff. She said: “He knows that he is going to be moved again.
“But he doesn’t know where he is going. Prison staff are ‘ghosting’ him. It means that they could come to his cell in the middle of the night and move him again.
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“It is unclear where he will end up; they could take him to Scotland because he is a Double Category A prisoner. They don’t take his belongings first; they take him first and send the belongings afterward.
Maudsley has spent 52 years behind bars and more than 17,000 consecutive days in solitary confinement, setting a new world record for time alone in his cell. He was removed from Wakefield jail – the institution nicknamed ‘Monster Mansion’ – and transferred 125 miles away in April 2025.
Friends say he has not had a visitor since, adding to his sense of isolation. They warn that the move has effectively denied him visits from loved ones because he is so far away from his native Merseyside.
“I am concerned about him,” added Londoner Loveinia, a mum-of-one. “When he was moved to Whitemoor, they found an iron bar in his cell. I worry about what will happen to him if he is moved again.”
In his letters to Loveinia, Maudsley showed his tender side, telling her: “All the kindness, thoughtfulness and love you have shared with me through these last short years can get me through anything.” He added: “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.
“Thank you for being there for me, and for giving me so many beautiful and wonderful dreams; I hope I have done the same for you when you think of me.”
One of Maudsley’s relatives on Merseyside said: “His brothers used to visit him, but they are in poor health now and it will be hard for them to get to the new prison. It was complicated visiting Robert, with forms and meeting the police.” Last year prison chiefs told Maudsley that they were sending him to Whitemoor ‘against his wishes’. “We do, however, find ourselves in a difficult situation regarding the growing population and the available accommodation,” they wrote in a memo. “As you will be aware, there have been a number of violent incidents in the segregation unit at HMP Wakefield. This means identifying a number of men to transfer….it is now an appropriate time to facilitate your transfer to another unit.”
It triggered a row about his privileges; Maudsley also went on hunger strike. For a time, he only bought food from the prison shop in Whitemoor. Another internal report from the authorities there confirmed that he is refusing to interact or “engage in conversation” with staff. Maudsley complained that his treatment was “far more restrictive, oppressive and punitive” than it had been in Wakefield. Special measures were in place due to his record of violence. Maudsley was sentenced to life in 1974 for the manslaughter of John Farrell, a 30-year-old child abuser. He then killed three men behind bars. After killing his last two victims, he was said to have told a prison guard: “There’ll be two short on the roll call.” He earned his ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ nickname after one victim was found with a spoon in his skull, leading to rumours – later proven false – that he had eaten the man’s brains. Maudsley spent decades at Wakefield, with special measures in place so prison staff could see him before they entered his cell. Due to the Perspex window on his cell, he has been compared to the fictional character Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins in “The Silence of the Lambs.”
A Ministry of Justice source stressed that Maudsley has access to a phone, has half an hour per day outside for exercise, and a daily shower.
