The UK’s most enduring prisoner has spent 17,000 consecutive days in isolation but may face additional years in confinement to establish a global record.
Known as ‘Hannibal the Cannibal,’ Robert Maudsley, a quadruple killer, has been transferred from Wakefield prison to Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire, after several decades. Whitemoor, also called “Monster Mansion” due to its high number of dangerous inmates, now houses Maudsley, who has resided in a solitary cell for 47 years.
Recently surpassing 17,000 continuous days in solitary, Maudsley likely holds a world record for this feat within the UK penal system. The current record is held by Charles Foussard, a French Australian, who spent nearly 71 years incarcerated from 1903 to 1974. Maudsley, now 72 years old, celebrated his birthday on June 26 amidst health concerns following a hunger strike. Despite his wish to return to Wakefield, his request has been denied.
Maudsley claimed the title of the UK’s longest-serving prisoner following the passing of Moors murderer Ian Brady in 2017. Initially imprisoned for manslaughter at 21 in 1974, Maudsley’s life sentence was compounded in 1978 when he murdered two fellow inmates while in Wakefield.
His time in solitary now exceeds 17,000 days, a duration that includes a prior killing of a fellow patient at Broadmoor secure hospital in 1974. This act earned him the monikers ‘Spoons’ and later ‘Hannibal the Cannibal,’ stemming from rumors suggesting he consumed the victim’s brain, although post-mortem examinations refuted these claims.
Within Wakefield, special arrangements were made for Maudsley, likening his cell to the one depicted in the film ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ where Dr. Hannibal Lecter resided. The UK Prison Service declined to address individual cases, emphasizing their stance against solitary confinement in the national penal system.
Charles Foussard, the previous record holder, was confined in a mental institution after a murder and passed away after serving nearly 71 years from 1903 to 1974 in the J Ward mental asylum in Victoria, Australia, marking the longest definite prison term served.