HMP Wakefield, known as ‘Monster Mansion’, is home to some of the UK’s most dangerous criminals, including child killer Roy Whiting, ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ Robert Maudsley, and mass murderer Jeremy Bamber
HMP Wakefield, known as ‘Monster Mansion’, houses some of the UK’s most infamous and dangerous criminals, ranging from serial killers to terrorists and habitual rapists.
Within its towering walls and secure gates, the prison serves as a residence for Category A offenders, including child murderer Roy Whiting, ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ Robert Maudsley, and mass killer Jeremy Bamber. In addition, it also held Lostprophets paedophile Ian Watkins, who was stabbed to death behind the prison cells this weekend.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We are aware of an incident at HMP Wakefield which took place this morning. We are unable to comment further while the police investigate.”
A statement from West Yorkshire Police added: “At 9.39am this morning (Saturday), police were called by staff at HMP Wakefield reporting an assault on a prisoner.
READ MORE: Ian Watkins dead: Prison Service statement in full after Lostprophets paedo stabbed to deathREAD MORE: Every Ian Watkins vile crime as Lostprophets paedophile killed behind bars
“Emergency services attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. Detectives from the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team are investigating and inquiries remain ongoing at the scene.”
The men’s prison in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, has approximately 750 inmates and earned its monstrous moniker due to the number of high-profile, high-risk sex offenders and murderers incarcerated there. It was initially constructed as a correction house back in 1594, and many of the existing buildings hail from the Victorian era.
In 2001, an ultra-secure unit – the first of its kind in the UK – was added to the site, specifically designed to incarcerate some of Britain’s most dangerous criminals. Some ‘underground’ cells reportedly lack natural light, and one wing – F wing – is referred to as the “punishment block” for disruptive inmates.
A Channel 5 documentary, HMP Wakefield: Evil Behind Bars, revealed how sex offenders were regarded as the “lowest form of life” in the prison. They aren’t kept separate at Wakefield, and one contributor to the programme described the inmates as the “dregs of society”.
One of the most infamous criminals held there is Robert Maudsley, who has been locked up since he was 21 years old, after he killed convicted paedophile John Farrell, 30, in 1974. He went on to slay another three men whilst incarcerated, and in 2023, achieved a new world record for the most days spent in solitary confinement.
He is considered to be so perilous that he is no longer permitted to mix with other prisoners or even warders, and spends most of his time isolated in a specially-constructed glass cell said to be 18ft by 15ft. The cell has large bulletproof windows and a table and chair made of compressed cardboard.
The toilet and sink are also secured to the floor. A steel door opens into a small cage within the cell, surrounded by thick Perspex, with a small slot at the bottom through which he is passed food.
It is said to bear an uncanny resemblance to the cell of cannibal killer Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins in the 1991 film ‘Silence of the Lambs’. Maudsley earned his ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ nickname amid claims he dug a spoon into the brain of one of his victims, an allegation he always denied.
The triple murderer once likened his cell to “being buried alive in a coffin”, and during the early days of his imprisonment, he penned letters to newspapers advocating for improved conditions. In 2000, he took legal action in an attempt to be “allowed to die”.
In one letter, he questioned why he couldn’t keep a pet budgie, vowing to care for it and “not eat it”.
Alongside Maudsley, Jeremy Bamber is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole after being found guilty of the White House farm murders – a desperate bid to snatch a hefty inheritance and pin the blame on his schizophrenic 28-year-old sister. He slaughtered his adoptive parents, sister, and nephews in the horrific 1985 massacre.
Meanwhile, Roy Whiting, who won’t be eligible for parole until 2051, kidnapped and killed seven-year-old schoolgirl Sarah Payne in July 2000. Whiting has been the victim of several revenge attacks whilst incarcerated at Wakefield.
In 2002, he was assaulted with a razor while collecting hot water. Then in 2004, murderer Rickie Tregaskis slashed Whiting, leaving him with a six-inch scar across his right cheek, which added an additional six years to his sentence.
In July 2011, Whiting was attacked again after being stabbed in the eye, but chose not to press charges. He was assaulted for a fourth time in 2018 when he was stabbed by two other inmates.
Such attacks are reportedly targeted at inmates who have committed crimes against children. In August 2022, Deividas Skebas, a Lithuanian former fruit picker who brutally murdered nine-year-old Lilia Valutyte, was airlifted to hospital after being attacked by a group of inmates.
Another notorious inmate was Harold Shipman – the British GP believed to be one of history’s most prolific serial killers. Before taking his own life, the man chillingly referred to as ‘Dr Death’ had been found guilty of murdering 15 patients, but it’s suspected he may have killed up to 250 people.
Reynhard Sinaga, an Indonesian PhD student at Leeds University, also found himself behind bars in Wakefield after he enticed victims to his flat before drugging and raping them, then bragging about his horrific deeds on WhatsApp. Dubbed ‘Britain’s worst rapist’, he was sent to the ‘Monster Mansion’ in 2020 after sexually assaulting up to 200 men.
The infamous Charles Bronson, considered the nation’s ‘most violent prisoner’, has also spent a considerable amount of time in Wakefield. Bronson, born Michael Peterson, was convicted of armed robbery in 1974 and has since spent the majority of his life incarcerated.
Before being stabbed to death this weekend, Paedophile and disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins had been serving a 29-year sentence after admitting to 13 sex offences, including two attempts to rape a baby. After being found with a mobile phone in prison in 2019, Watkins told the court that he was incarcerated with “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers”.
“The worst of the worst,” he informed the judge. In August 2023, the former vocalist was reportedly attacked and stabbed in the neck in a ‘targeted and prolonged’ assault at Wakefield.
It was reported that three anonymous inmates restrained him, and officers had to wait for an armed ‘Tornado’ team of specially trained riot officers to intervene, with grenades being thrown into the cell to liberate Watkins.
