Featured Image Credit: Channel 5
Topics: Crime, True Crime, UK News, News, Documentaries
Britt Jones
Family secrets can sometimes be a lot more than you’d expect. From something slightly iffy to a full-blown criminal past, there is something to be said about keeping your skeletons in check.
Unfortunately, one man made the horrifying discover that he was the nephew of 'Britain’s most dangerous killer' and has now spoken out about the moment he found out who his uncle really was.
Robert Maudsley is a serial killer, currently serving a life sentence in prison at Category A HMP Wakefield.
The jail is dubbed the ‘Monster Mansion’ due to how many high-profile and high-risk offenders reside there.
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Maudsley is kept in solitary confinement in a specially designed 'glass box', which is said to have been the inspiration for Hannibal Lecter's cell in Silence of the Lambs.
Maudsley's criminal history began back in 1974 when he murdered John Farrell, after Farrell had picked him up for sex and made the fatal mistake of showing him evidence of child sexual abuse.
Maudsley then went on the hand himself over to police after his crime, saying he needed psychiatric help, which was when he was send to Broadmoor Hospital.
But it was only the start of his crimes. He and another prisoner tortured and killed child molester David Francis in Broadmoor Hospital which resulted in him being transferred to HMP Wakefield, where he then killed two more inmates.
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As a result of his violence towards inmates with a past of child abuse, Maudsley has been behind bars in solitary confinement for around 45 years in a specially built cell where one of the only people allowed contact with him is his nephew, Gavin.
Gavin went on to speak to Channel 5 for their documentary, HMP Wakefield: Evil Behind Bars, where he recalled the moment he found out the shocking details of his uncle's murders, having not known about the extent of the crimes until he spotted an article in the newspaper.
"I always knew I had an Uncle Bob, and I knew that he was in prison and that he’d done wrong," he said.
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"But I didn’t really know the details of his crimes."
Unfortunately, at the time of him finding out, the press had incorrectly reported that Maudsley had eaten part of one of his victim’s brains, and received the nickname of ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’.
George went on to say: “And it was when I was in senior school. There was a double article in one of the newspapers, and one of my friends was reading it, and said, ‘Hey, Gav, is this Hannibal Maudsley your uncle?’.
“And there was a picture of him, and one of the other guys said, ‘Bleeding hell, he looks like you’.
“And I knew straight away, ‘That’s my Uncle Bob’. And it was only once I read that article that gave me an insight into what he’d actually done, and how serious it actually was.”
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He added: “That’s a grey cloud that hangs over my family, if you like.”
The documentary featured HMP Wakefield, where some of Britain's most notorious killers and sex offenders are housed and delves into the lives of other famous inmates, including Roy Whiting, Jeffrey Bamber and, of course, Charles Bronson.
The synopsis explains: "Through interviews with ex-inmates, retired screws, and relatives of Britain’s most infamous inmates, we unlock the cell doors and uncover the secrets of life inside the UK’s toughest jail."
It continues: "Exclusive phone-calls from one of the UK’s longest serving inmates Charles Bronson reveal first-hand what life is really like as inmate in Wakefield Prison.
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"And we hear never before told stories from inside the walls of Wakefield about Jeremy Bamber, arguably as famous for his fight to get out of prison than for the crimes he committed to be sent there."