{{Short description|English serial killer (born 1953)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Use British English|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox serial killer | name = Robert Maudsley | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Robert John Maudsley | other_names = Hannibal the Cannibal<br />The Brain Eater | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|06|26|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Speke]], Liverpool, England | death_date = | death_place = | cause = | conviction = [[Murder]] (3 counts)<br />[[Manslaughter]] | motive = [[Vigilantism]]; hatred for [[pedophiles]], [[domestic abuse]], and [[sex crimes]] | sentence = [[Life imprisonment in England and Wales|Life imprisonment]] ([[whole life tariff]]) | victims = 4 | country = England | locations = [[London]], [[Broadmoor]], [[Wakefield Prison]], [[HM Prison Whitemoor]] | beginyear = 1974 | endyear = 1978 | apprehended = }} '''Robert John Maudsley''' (born 26 June 1953)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/i-feel-ive-been-buried-alive-8sjjpbczzmh |title='I feel I've been buried alive' |last=Prentice |first=Eve-Ann |date=24 February 2003 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref> is an English [[serial killer]]. Maudsley first killed a man who showed him pictures of children he had sexually abused. After surrendering himself to police and saying he needed psychiatric care, Maudsley was sent to [[Broadmoor Hospital]], where he killed a convicted child molester. He later killed two men on the same day: one imprisoned for murdering and sexually assaulting his wife and another imprisoned for attempting to strangle a four-year-old girl. Maudsley's killings have been described as [[vigilante|vigilantism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/robert-maudsley-still-scouse-accent-31940477 |title=Robert Maudsley still has Scouse accent but his behaviour in jail defies 'medical book' |last=McInerney |first=Liam |date=26 June 2025 |work=[[Liverpool Echo]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250627182430/https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/robert-maudsley-still-scouse-accent-31940477 |archive-date=June 27, 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/nostalgia/notorious-serial-killer-locked-inside-27970514 |title=The notorious serial killer locked inside 'Monster Mansion' in tiny bulletproof glass box underground |last=Grimsditch |first=Lee |last2=Dunn |first2=Connor |last3=Hainey |first3=Fionnula |date=October 29, 2023 |work=[[Manchester Evening News]]}}</ref>
Initial reports falsely stated he ate part of the brain of one of the men he killed in prison, which earned him the nickname "Hannibal the Cannibal" from parts of the British press<ref name="R.J.M." /> and "The Brain Eater" among other prisoners. National newspapers were advised that the allegations were untrue, according to the post-mortem report.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article%3DNTcxNw%3D%3D |title=News & Features|access-date=17 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313004617/http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=NTcxNw== |archive-date=13 March 2012}}</ref> Maudsley is the longest-serving British prisoner in [[solitary confinement]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/rose-west-peter-sutcliffe-people-3694717|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108221436/https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/rose-west-peter-sutcliffe-people-3694717 |archive-date=8 November 2021|title=From Rose West to Peter Sutcliffe: All the people on whole-life sentences in prison right now |work=Gloucester Live|date=1 January 2021|access-date=22 March 2021}}</ref>
==Early life== Robert Maudsley was the fourth of 12 children, born in [[Speke, Liverpool]]. He spent his early years in a Catholic [[orphanage]] in [[Crosby, Merseyside|Crosby]], with his three older siblings.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/brain-eater-killer-robert-maudsley-14888774|title='Brain-Eater' killer is now 40 YEARS into solitary confinement stretch|first=Connor|last=Dunn|date=15 July 2018|work=Liverpool Echo|access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref> At the age of eight, Maudsley and his three older siblings were retrieved by their parents. Robert was subjected to routine [[physical abuse]] from his father until he was removed from their care by [[social services]].<ref name="R.J.M."/> Maudsley later stated that he was raped as a child by his father, and such early abuse left deep psychological scars.
He sought psychiatric help after several suicide attempts. He told doctors that he claimed to hear voices telling him to kill his parents.<ref name="R.J.M."/> He is quoted as saying "If I had killed my parents in 1970, none of these people would have died."<ref name="R.J.M.">{{cite news|last1=Thompson|first1=Tony|title=The caged misery of Britain's real 'Hannibal the Cannibal'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/apr/27/ukcrime|access-date=30 January 2016|work=The Guardian|date=27 April 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/tragic-life-led-hannibal-killings-3554260|title=Tragic life that led to Hannibal killings|date=7 May 2003|newspaper=Liverpool Echo|access-date=8 November 2016}}</ref>
==Murders== In 1974,<ref name="budgie"/> Maudsley [[Garrote|garrotted]] John Farrell in [[Wood Green]], London. Farrell had picked up Maudsley for sex and shown him pictures of children he had sexually abused.<ref name="R.J.M." /> Maudsley surrendered himself to police, saying he needed psychiatric care. Maudsley was found unfit to stand trial and was sent to [[Broadmoor Hospital]].
In 1977, he and another patient, David Cheeseman, who was serving a sentence for attempted murder,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Cheeseman |first=David | date=1980|title=Lifer - UK prison documentary - 1980|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FfrsUANQO4M |website=Youtube}}</ref> locked themselves in a cell with a third patient, David Francis, a convicted [[child molester]].<ref name="R.J.M."/> Maudsley had previously held another prisoner, Philip Monk, hostage with Francis in September of 1976.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=1977-10-07 |title=Robert Maudsley |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-robert-maudsley/21154786/ |access-date=2025-03-14 |work=The Guardian |pages=2}}</ref> The attack was claimed to be in revenge for a "homosexual attack" on one of the friends of the two men.<ref name=":0"/> Cheeseman told police he had killed Francis to leave Broadmoor and be placed in a prison, threatening to kill again if he was not moved.<ref name=":2" /> The two men tortured Francis to death over a period of nine hours, with the cause of death being strangulation with a garrote. Francis' body had bruises from where he was beaten during the attack.<ref name=":2" /> Maudsley and Cheeseman had arranged the killing three days prior by moving furniture to make it easier to set up a barricade.<ref name=":2" /> After this incident, Maudsley was convicted of [[manslaughter]] and sent to [[Wakefield Prison]]. He disliked the transfer and made it clear he wanted to return to Broadmoor.<ref name="R.J.M."/> Maudsley was later sentenced to [[life imprisonment]], with a recommendation [[Whole life tariff|that he never be released]].{{fact|date=November 2023}}
In 1978, Maudsley killed two fellow prisoners at Wakefield Prison in one day. He had originally set out to kill seven.<ref name="R.J.M." /> His first victim was Salney Darwood, who was serving a life sentence for the manslaughter of his wife and sexual assault.<ref name="R.J.M." /> At the time, Darwood had been giving Maudsley French lessons.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Appleyard |first=Nick |title=Life Means Life: Jailed Forever: True Stories of Britain's Most Evil Killers |publisher=John Blake Publishing|location=London, England|year=2009 |isbn=9781843589617}}</ref> Maudsley invited Darwood to his cell, where he garroted and stabbed him before hiding his body under his bed. He then attempted to lure other prisoners into his cell, but they all refused.<ref name="R.J.M."/>
Maudsley then prowled the wing hunting for a second victim, cornering prisoner William Roberts, who was serving a 7-year sentence for trying to strangle a four-year-old girl in order to rape her, and stabbing him to death as he was lying in his bed. Maudsley had never met Roberts before killing him.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Appleyard |first=Nick |title=Life Means Life: Jailed Forever: True Stories of Britain's Most Evil Killers |publisher=John Blake Publishing|location=London, England|year=2009 |isbn=9781843589617}}</ref> He hacked at Roberts' skull with a makeshift dagger and then struck his head against the wall multiple times. Maudsley calmly walked into the wing office, placed the dagger on the table and told the officer that the next roll call would be two short.<ref name="R.J.M."/>
Maudsley states his victims were rapists, [[paedophile]]s, or [[sex offender]]s,<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 March 2000 |title=Killer creature comforts: pet or poison |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/eish/killer-creature-comforts-pet-or-poison-32457}}</ref> and that those are the people to whom he is a threat.<ref name="budgie"/>
==Victims== * John Farrell, age 30, on 14 March 1974. Farrell had shown Maudsley photographs of children he had molested.<ref name="R.J.M." /> * David Francis, age 26, on 26 February 1977. Francis was a convicted child molester, sentenced to Broadmoor.<ref name="R.J.M." /> * Salney Darwood, age 46, on 29 July 1978. Darwood had been serving a life sentence for sexual assault and the killing of his wife.<ref name="R.J.M." /><ref name=":1" /> * William Roberts, age 56, on 29 July 1978. Roberts was serving a 7-year sentence for trying to strangle a four-year-old girl in order to rape her.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rickall |first=Charles |title=Yorkshire's Multiple Killers: Yorkshire Cases c.1915-2006 |date=2007 |page=105 |publisher=Wharncliffe |isbn=978-1-84563-022-5 |location=Havertown}}</ref>
==Solitary confinement==
In 1983, Maudsley was deemed too dangerous for a normal cell. Prison authorities built a two-cell unit in the basement of Wakefield Prison. Due to his history of violence, when outside his cell he is escorted by at least four prison officers.<ref name="R.J.M."/>
In March 2000, Maudsley unsuccessfully pleaded for the terms of his [[solitary confinement]] to be relaxed, or to be allowed to [[suicide|take his own life]] via a [[cyanide capsule]]. He asked for a pet [[budgerigar]], which was denied.<ref name="budgie">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/687659.stm|title=Killer begs for budgie or suicide|date=23 March 2000|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=8 November 2016}}</ref>
In 2003, Maudsley was moved to Wakefield Prison's Close Supervision Centre, which was built to house Britain's most dangerous inmates.<ref name=":1" /> He was let out of his cell one hour every day to exercise.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Verkaik |first=Robert |date=19 May 2008 |title=Visiting time: Charles Bronson invites us into his cell |url=https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/visiting-time-charles-bronson-invites-us-into-his-cell-6262619.html}}</ref>
In March 2025, Maudsley began a hunger strike after his luxury items, such as a video game console, books, and a music system, were confiscated by prison guards.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Warburton |first=Dan |last2=Armstrong |first2=Jeremy |date=2025-03-08 |title='My serial killer brother's polite - but he's on hunger strike after jail row' |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/my-serial-killer-brothers-polite-34815758 |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=The Mirror |language=en}}</ref> In April 2025, it was reported that he had been moved from Wakefield Prison to a Category A facility in [[HMP Whitemoor]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-19 |title=UK's 'most dangerous prisoner’ transferred to new jail after 46 years in a glass box underground |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uks-most-dangerous-prisoner-transferred-100954419.html |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
==See also== * [[List of serial killers in the United Kingdom]] * [[List of serial killers by number of victims]] * [[Pedro Rodrigues Filho]] - another vigilante serial killer of rapists and murderers
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maudsley, Robert}} [[Category:1953 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:20th-century British murderers]] [[Category:20th-century English criminals]] [[Category:British hunger strikers]] [[Category:British torturers]] [[Category:Criminals from Merseyside]] [[Category:Crime in Berkshire]] [[Category:Crime in West Yorkshire]] [[Category:English people convicted of manslaughter]] [[Category:English people convicted of murder]] [[Category:English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]] [[Category:English serial killers]] [[Category:People acquitted by reason of insanity]] [[Category:People convicted of murder by England and Wales]] [[Category:People detained at Broadmoor Hospital]] [[Category:People from Speke]] [[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales]] [[Category:Violence against men in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Vigilantes]] [[Category:Vigilantism against sex offenders]]