Britain’s most enduring prisoner has been authorized to have his cell phone returned, though he is not expected to go back to his confinement at the penitentiary known as “Monster Mansion.” Robert Maudsley, aged 72, went on a hunger strike earlier this year after his PlayStation, TV, and other privileges were taken away. Maudsley, a four-time killer once considered the most perilous inmate in the correctional system, was relocated from his specifically constructed cell in Wakefield prison, West Yorkshire.
In March, he was moved 125 miles to HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire and accommodated in F wing, a section tailored for individuals with personality disorders. Allegations arose from acquaintances that he was being targeted following an assault by Manchester bomber Hashem Abedi on staff at Durham’s Frankland prison. Loveinia MacKenney, a 69-year-old Londoner who is Maudsley’s girlfriend and longtime correspondent, expressed worries about his well-being.
Maudsley, once labeled the most dangerous prisoner in the country, was segregated from the general prison populace in Wakefield for many years. A perspex window was used to monitor him due to his history of extreme violence, leaving him extremely susceptible to infections after spending nearly 47 years in solitary confinement.
Although the prospect of his return to Wakefield seems dim, Maudsley has had his possessions reinstated, including books and music, and is now allowed a phone in his cell. He has also been granted half an hour of outdoor exercise daily. This new arrangement provides him with a crucial connection after decades of incarceration. Gavin Maudsley, his nephew, mentioned his uncle’s struggles with the sudden change, emphasizing the restricted regime at HMP Whitemoor compared to Wakefield.
Last Christmas marked Maudsley’s 51st behind bars since his life sentence in 1974 for the murder of John Farrell, a child abuser. During his incarceration, he killed three men he believed to be rapists and pedophiles. Following the homicides, he reportedly informed a prison guard, “There’ll be two short on the roll call.” From 1983 until April this year, he spent 23 hours a day in a glass cell at Wakefield, describing the experience as akin to “being buried alive in a coffin.” Maudsley assumed the title of the UK’s lengthiest serving prisoner after the passing of Moors murderer Ian Brady in 2017.