Inside 'Monster Mansion': Unveiling Britain's Most Notorious Prison of Cannibals, Brutal Attacks, and 'Dr. Death'

FROM child murderers to rapists and even war criminals – Britain’s so-called “Monster Mansion” prison has more than earned its infamous nickname.

The notorious lock-up in has housed some of Britain’s most twisted and depraved criminals. And now a lawyer who has spent hours in the jail’s walls has revealed what life is like in HMP Wakefield.

HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire houses some of Britain’s most twisted and dangerous inmates Credit: Alamy The prison is dubbed ‘Monster Mansion’ with nearly half of lags serving life sentences Credit: Alamy

Marcus Johnstone, solicitor and managing director at PCD Solicitors, has visited “Monster Mansion” countless times.

The jail has been home to lags such as Lostprophets paedophile , killer doctor , infamous robber , ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ serial killer Robert Maudsley, and genocidal war criminal Radislav Krstic.

Mr Johnstone even came across , Primrose, in the communal area – just days before he hanged himself behind bars.

But he said even with murderers like the twisted doctor roaming the halls, it is sex offenders who have the biggest target on their back at “Monster Mansion”.

The prison contains hundreds of single occupancy cells across four main wings Credit: Alamy Mass murderer Harold Shipman hung himself in a cell at HMP Wakefield in January 2024 Credit: Alamy

With up to 750 offenders locked up inside the Category A , nearly half are serving life sentences for their heinous crimes, with two-thirds of inmates serving time for sexual offences.

Hundreds of single-occupancy cells with hard iron beds are sprawled across the prison’s four main wings, which all circle a central hub behind towering, razor-wire-topped walls.

It is one of ten Category A prisons in the UK – and dates back as far as 1594, when Queen Elizabeth I was still on the throne.

And those inside are deemed to be the most dangerous criminals in the UK.

Johnstone told The Sun: “I have represented many serious offenders who have been locked up in Wakefield.

“Sexual offenders are segregated from non-sexual offenders, but they can still be targeted, attacked and killed by other sex offenders.”

He added he thinks the jail is at “breaking point” – and said it is a symptom of a wider issue of violence within Britain’s prisons.

“I’ve seen just how bad these problems are first-hand,” he told The Sun.

Former Lostprophets frontman, Ian Watkins, was brutally murdered at the prison last year Credit: PA Footage showed him emerge from his cell with blood on his clothes Credit: PA Child killer Robert Maudsley was known as Britain’s most dangerous inmate when he was jailed at Wakefield Radislav Krstic was a war criminal held in HMP Wakefield Credit: Reuters

Johnstone has previously described seeing Shipman “just chatting away” wearing jeans and a “prison-issue” shirt at Monster Mansion during one of his visits.

“They would have had a cup of tea or maybe some chocolate bars or even some sandwiches,” he said.

The ghoulish doctor hanged himself in his cell in January 2024, a day before his 58th birthday.

But this chilling banality, with bearded and bespectacled Shipman looking “exactly the same as you’d have seen him on TV”, hid the evil held within the lock-up’s walls.

Shipman is just one of a who’s who of villains held behind bars.

Britain’s most prolific rapist, , is serving time there, as was .

Maudsley was a long-term resident of HMP Wakefield before being moved in 2025, and was said to have been held in a “glass box” and always escorted by four guards if he was ever allowed out of solitary confinement because he was so dangerous.

After being locked up for garrotting builder John Farrell in 1974, he went on to brutally murder three inmates – one in Broadmoor and two in Wakefield on the same day – claiming they were rapists, paedophiles or sex offenders.

Serial rapist Reynhard Sinaga is also holed up at Wakefield Credit: PA Bronson, 73, has also served time at Wakefield during his decades behind bars – and was recently moved back Credit: Rex Features

But it wasn’t this that earned him the nickname “Hannibal the Cannibal”, which came about amid claims he used a spoon to eat his victim’s brain in Broadmoor.

His bare-bones cell is equipped with bulletproof windows, a cardboard chair and a table, while he sleeps on a concrete slab for a bed – when he steps foot outside the cell, he is accompanied by four prison officers.

Other vile clientele behind Wakefield’s walls have included child murderer Ian Huntley, who was first sent to the prison in 2004 before he was transferred to the equally notorious Frankland four years later, where he died.

Britain’s most notorious prisoner, , 73, has also served time at Wakefield during his decades behind bars – and was recently moved back.

He was attacked behind bars in a “revenge attack” that left him with a five-inch cut across his neck.

and also served time, as did “Black Cab Rapist” .

And the hell house caged former Welsh rocker Ian Watkins, who was serving a 29-year sentence for a string of child sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby, before he was killed.

Levi Bellfield was held for a time in HMP Wakefield Credit: PA Jeremy Bamber is currently housed in HMP Wakefield Credit: PA:Press Association

Serial rapist is also holed up at the prison whose crimes led to the largest rape inquiry in British .

The monster was jailed for life with a minimum of 40 years in 2020 after being convicted of 159 sex offences, including 136 rapes of young men at his flat in between 2015 and 2017.

And another murderer destined to spend his last days behind bars in West is Jeremy Bamber, convicted of the monstrous 1985 murders in Essex.

He was found guilty of gunning down three generations of his family, marking one of the most brutal massacres in British history.

The victims were 24-year-old Sheila Caffell, her twin six-year-old sons Daniel and Nicholas, and her adoptive parents Nevill and June Bamber, both 61-years-old.

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in the 12 months to September 2025, the rate of serious prisoner-on-prisoner assaults was up 12% to 31 per 1,000 – or 2,652 incidents.

More recently, Akiel Flemming died in his cell at Wakefield after being locked up for rape Credit: BPM Marcus Johnstone has made countless visits to HMP Wakefield Credit: Supplied

And a February report on HMP Wakefield covering April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, found there were 367 violent incidents – a rise of 272 in the prison year.

Johnstone was speaking to The Sun after the death of Freshers’ Week rapist Akiel Flemming.

The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is examining the circumstances surrounding his death.

Mr Johnstone told The Sun: “‘There’s a huge crisis going on in our prisons. HMP Wakefield is at breaking point.

“I’ve worked with serious offenders in prisons for over 20 years, and life inside for someone jailed for sex offences has never been good.

“However, in recent years, conditions have declined massively, and it’s no exaggeration to say that many prisoners at Wakefield now live their lives just waiting to be attacked.

“Although sex offenders will be separated from the wider prison population, there will always be an opportunity for a concerted attacker to gain access – when they are on the medical wing or moving around the prison for work or education.”

In a previous statement on violence in British prisons, the Ministry of Justice said: “To protect the public prisons must always be a place of control and punishment which is why this government took immediate action to reverse years of chaos and reduce the amount of violence behind bars.”