Robert Maudsley
| AKA | Hannibal the Cannibal |
| DOB | 26 Jun 1953 (Cancer) |
| Occupation | none |
| Kill Total | 4 |
| Kill Place | London and prison |
| Kill Date | 1973, 1977 & 1978 |
| M.O. | Strangulation & stabbing |
| Victim | John Farrell name unknown Salney Darwood Bill Roberts |
1973, Maudsley was a rent boy (male prostitute) in 1973, he was picked up by paedophile John Farrell, who showed Maudsley picture of children that he had abused , Maudsley reacted badly to this and strangled the labourer. Maudsley was declared mentally unfit to stand trial and was sent to Broadmoor.
1976, Three years later, while in prison he and a fellow prisoner killed a paedophile. They grabbed the man, locked themselves into a room and tortured and eventually killed the man. A guard said Maudsley fractured the man's skull like an egg and then ate part of his brain with a spoon (See below).
1978, he killed two more convicts, the first was convicted sex offender Salney Darwood, he lured him into his cell strangling, and then stabbing the man, and hiding the body under his bed. He then went on the prowl around the prison, eventually grabbing, and stabbing to death Bill Roberts. He then calmly walked to the Governors office and told them that the next roll call would be two people short.
Because of his prison killings Maudsley was placed into solitary confinement, a punishment he described as being buried alive in a concrete coffin.
Maudsley now lives in a 'glass cage', a two-cell unit at Wakefield prison that is very like the one featured in the film "The Silence of the Lambs". It was built in the basement of Wakefield prison for Maudsley in 1983, seven years before the film was released. At around 5.5m by 4.5m, the two cells are slightly larger than average and have large bullet-proof windows through which inmates can be observed.
The only furniture is a table and chair, both made of compressed cardboard. The toilet and sink are bolted to the floor, the bed is a concrete slab.
A solid steel door opens into a small cage within the cell, encased in thick Perspex, with a small slot at the bottom through which guards pass him food and other items. He remains in the cell for 23 hours a day. During his daily hour of exercise, he is escorted to the yard by six prison officers. He is not allowed contact with any other inmates. It is a level of intense isolation to which no other prisoner in the UK has been subjected.
March 2000, Maudsley had written to The Times newspaper, asking that the prison service give him access to classical music, a TV, and a pet budgie. He stated that if none of these could be given, he wanted to be allowed to take his own life with a cyanide capsule.
One of the Letters to the Times said: "I am left to stagnate; vegetate; and to regress; left to confront my solitary head-on with people who have eyes but don't see and who have ears but don't hear, who have mouths but don't speak."
In another letter he asks: "Why can't I have a budgie instead of the flies and cockroaches and spiders I currently have? I promise to love it and not eat it."
February 2008 Reported in national press that Maudsley is close to death, having lost a large amount of weight. a doctor was visiting him on a regular basis.
Email received by Murder UK :-
I was a prison officer at Wakefield prison for over 28 years. I was on duty on the Saturday morning when Maudsley killed Darwood and Roberts. I then had the dubious honour of supervising Maudsley on a great many occasions, until I retired in 2005.
For the record (this will burst a lot of bubbles!) Maudsley NEVER ate anybody's brains. This was a myth that grew up following the manner in which he killed his second victim in Broadmoor.
In Broadmoor inmates are only allowed to eat with a plastic fork and spoon, unlike a normal prison where they have a plastic knife. Maudsley and Cheeseman (the other hostage taker) took an inmate hostage and barricaded themselves in a cell.
He fashioned a makeshift weapon by snapping the blade of a spoon down the middle to create a rough pointed weapon. He killed this inmate by ramming the spoon deep into the victims ear, penetrating the brain. Needless to say when he pulled it out it was covered in gore, which was allegedly his brains. None of it was ever eaten.
With regards to the statement about crushing skulls like eggshells, this was what he did to Darwood, when he swung him round the cell with a garrotte and smashed his head against the wall.
I realise this blows a perfectly good myth wide open and will probably never get printed, but at least you now know the truth. Finally I always addressed him as Robert when in casual conversation.
Peter Northrop
1976, Three years later, while in prison he and a fellow prisoner killed a paedophile. They grabbed the man, locked themselves into a room and tortured and eventually killed the man. A guard said Maudsley fractured the man's skull like an egg and then ate part of his brain with a spoon (See below).
Maudsley was convicted of manslaughter for this crime, having been found fit to stand trial, and sent to Wakefield prison, he was not happy, and demanded to be retuned to Broadmoor.
1978, he killed two more convicts, the first was convicted sex offender Salney Darwood, he lured him into his cell strangling, and then stabbing the man, and hiding the body under his bed. He then went on the prowl around the prison, eventually grabbing, and stabbing to death Bill Roberts. He then calmly walked to the Governors office and told them that the next roll call would be two people short.
Because of his prison killings Maudsley was placed into solitary confinement, a punishment he described as being buried alive in a concrete coffin.
Maudsley now lives in a 'glass cage', a two-cell unit at Wakefield prison that is very like the one featured in the film "The Silence of the Lambs". It was built in the basement of Wakefield prison for Maudsley in 1983, seven years before the film was released. At around 5.5m by 4.5m, the two cells are slightly larger than average and have large bullet-proof windows through which inmates can be observed.
The only furniture is a table and chair, both made of compressed cardboard. The toilet and sink are bolted to the floor, the bed is a concrete slab.
A solid steel door opens into a small cage within the cell, encased in thick Perspex, with a small slot at the bottom through which guards pass him food and other items. He remains in the cell for 23 hours a day. During his daily hour of exercise, he is escorted to the yard by six prison officers. He is not allowed contact with any other inmates. It is a level of intense isolation to which no other prisoner in the UK has been subjected.
March 2000, Maudsley had written to The Times newspaper, asking that the prison service give him access to classical music, a TV, and a pet budgie. He stated that if none of these could be given, he wanted to be allowed to take his own life with a cyanide capsule.
One of the Letters to the Times said: "I am left to stagnate; vegetate; and to regress; left to confront my solitary head-on with people who have eyes but don't see and who have ears but don't hear, who have mouths but don't speak."
In another letter he asks: "Why can't I have a budgie instead of the flies and cockroaches and spiders I currently have? I promise to love it and not eat it."
February 2008 Reported in national press that Maudsley is close to death, having lost a large amount of weight. a doctor was visiting him on a regular basis.
Email received by Murder UK :-
I was a prison officer at Wakefield prison for over 28 years. I was on duty on the Saturday morning when Maudsley killed Darwood and Roberts. I then had the dubious honour of supervising Maudsley on a great many occasions, until I retired in 2005.
For the record (this will burst a lot of bubbles!) Maudsley NEVER ate anybody's brains. This was a myth that grew up following the manner in which he killed his second victim in Broadmoor.
In Broadmoor inmates are only allowed to eat with a plastic fork and spoon, unlike a normal prison where they have a plastic knife. Maudsley and Cheeseman (the other hostage taker) took an inmate hostage and barricaded themselves in a cell.
He fashioned a makeshift weapon by snapping the blade of a spoon down the middle to create a rough pointed weapon. He killed this inmate by ramming the spoon deep into the victims ear, penetrating the brain. Needless to say when he pulled it out it was covered in gore, which was allegedly his brains. None of it was ever eaten.
With regards to the statement about crushing skulls like eggshells, this was what he did to Darwood, when he swung him round the cell with a garrotte and smashed his head against the wall.
I realise this blows a perfectly good myth wide open and will probably never get printed, but at least you now know the truth. Finally I always addressed him as Robert when in casual conversation.
Peter Northrop
To back up the above statement, It was reported that the victim's autopsy report disproved the brain-eating rumours, but the nicknames which later arose- 'Hannibal the Cannibal' and 'Brain Eater' - have endured nonetheless.
Maudsley is on the Home Office list of prisoner who will never be release and are serving a 'Whole Life Tariff', see list here >>
Since the death of Ian Brady in 2017, Maudsley has been the longest-serving British prisoner.