Wakefield Prison: The Monsters Mansion

 

(The Monsters Mansion - Wakefield Prison, home to 600+ of the UK's most dangerous criminals. Picture credit: Independent)

You know, I used to live in a place called Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, it's just a small place but is known for being a city and one of the things Wakefield is best known for is it's prison. Wakefield Prison is the largest high security prison in the UK and is home to 600+ of the worst individuals you could imagine so it's no surprise that it's nickname is 'The Monsters Mansion'.

Having recently covered the horrific Ian Watkins  case it got me to thinking about previous cases that I have covered, the individuals I wrote about who ended up in Wakefield Prison and the ones we already knew were in there. 

It sounds crazy looking back but I used to walk past this prison almost every day on my way to college or work and as I walked alongside the huge walls with the barbed wire right up at the top, I wondered to myself, that I was just feet away from some of the most vilest creatures to have ever walked the earth. I also thought to myself how frightening it would be if the worst case scenario ever happened and there was some kind of prison outbreak. Trying to imagine 600+ monsters roaming the streets of Wakefield, it would be a nightmare none of us could ever imagine. 

(Wakefield Prison. Picture credit: Examiner Live)

I've known people who have worked in that prison and by all accounts they told me that the monsters within those walls were treated very well, as well as free healthcare, dentistry etc, they also have access to CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and psychologists. If you happen to live in the UK and you're just an ordinary good member of the public, trying to get a psychologist or some CBT treatment, you'll find yourself on a never ending waiting list. 

The use of CBT in the prison is supposed to be effective with the sex offenders. Wakefield Prison is a Category A male prison and is home to the UK's worst sex offenders and murderers. Some of the names that I mention in this post will ring a few bells with you, for example, Mick Philpott who you may remember as the father from hell who, alongside his gullible partner and next door neighbour, came up with a revenge scheme against his ex partner in a bitter custody battle and row over wanting a bigger house and more wellfare. You may remember me telling you about how he and his two co-conspirators set fire to the Philpott's family home with their children trapped upstairs. Their plan was to climb up a ladder and rescue the kids so that Mick could be hailed as the big hero of the hour. Tragically, the children died and instead of holding their hands up to what they had done and shed a tear for their children, Mick and his partner lied and tried to put on the performance of a lifetime but soon the act was up and although he is still in Wakefield Prison, Mairead, his ex, has been released from prison and started a new life much to Mick's dismay. 

(Mairead & Mick Philpott pretending to cry at a press conference after the death of their children which they were responsible for. Picture credit: Mirror)

I just recently covered the case of Ian Watkins as I mentioned earlier, the former rockstar who was a sick pedophile and had spent some time in Wakefield prison before being transferred to Long Lartin Prison to be closer to his mother who was in poor health. 

(Ian Watkins. Picture credit: BBC and Rock Revolt)
 
You may remember me talking about the sickening case of 'The Babes In The Wood' murderer Ronald Jebson, he'd been in Wakefield Prison for decades and was one of the most evil and dangerous predators to have walked the earth. I go into more detail in that particular post about his crimes but he passed away in 2015 from Kidney failure. 

One of the worst cases I covered was that of Levi Bellfield who had a spell in Wakefield Prison before being moved to HMP Frankland. He stalked the streets and attacked and murdered young blonde girls. It was later revealed that he was infact Milly Dowler's killer. Milly's case remained unsolved for a long time and nobody knew what had happened to the pretty, bubbly schoolgirl who just seemed to vanish on her way home from school. Levi finally confessed to her murder in gruesome detail. 

Another monster who I haven't written about because it's one of those cases that is so terribly disturbing (but if my readers would like to know more then of course I will put it on the list) is the story of Robert Black which is another hard one to stomach. I mention him here because he had a spell in Wakefield Prison before being moved onto somewhere else. Robert was a sick child killer and peadophile, he was actually from Scotland. It's a horrible feeling when you hear what these people have done but when you hear that they are from your country it makes you feel even more sick. Robert passed away in 2016.

(Levi Bellfield. Picture credit: Daily Mail)

When I mention the words 'The UK's Doctor Death' I'm sure without a doubt a name and a face will pop up in your mind. I'm talking of course about Harold Shipman, the man that everybody thought they could trust, a man who was well respected in his community but then a suspicious number of his elderly patients started dying and leaving their money to him. Harold ended up in Wakefield Prison and obviously couldn't handle it or was there a moment in his evil mind for a bit of remorse? who knows?, all we know is that he was apparently found dead in his prison cell in 2004, he'd taken his own life by hanging. 

(Harold Shipman. Picture credit: IMDB)

Can you imagine how utterly fascinating and quite frightening it would be if the walls could talk in that prison? Being a home to so many monsters over the years, the evil must seep through the walls and if you are a believer of the paranormal, you can imagine the ghosts that must drift through those endless halls, all those tortured black souls never finding peace because they don't deserve it. They say God forgives but in my opinion I think the horrendous acts that these people have committed especially involving children, is something that you just simply can't forgive. There's no excuses to be said but you will find really flaky types of people who bang on about difficult childhoods so on and so forth. Quite a lot of us have had traumatic childhoods but we don't go out harming innocent children, there will never be an excuse for that. 

There are so many other infamous names who are connected to Wakefield Prison or have served some of their sentences there, from Ian Huntley, the twisted and cold murderer of the two young girls, Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells back in 2003 to child murderer Roy Whiting who was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of little Sarah Payne in 2000. There are so many other names I could list but then this post would never end. I will be writing about some of the current inmates of Wakefield Prison in future posts. 

Wakefield Prison was built in 1594 and remains standing today almost like a landmark and an important piece of not only Wakefield's history but Yorkshire as a whole. Sometimes I wander what it would be like to walk into that place knowing that all those monsters that you've seen on TV, read in books and the newspapers are all there gathered in one place, like some sick island for twisted individuals. I take my hat off to the staff that work there, it can't be easy being around these people everyday especially the ones you know have harmed children. 

HMP Wakefield is not without it's controversies even though it is a high security prison, fights do often break out and other prisoners will try and get to high profile inmates like Roy Whiting who have had various attempts on his life by fellow inmates. Prisoners who are known as pedophiles and child killers are instant targets in prison so they are often put in an isolated wing away from the other inmates but sometimes there is some crossover and that's where incidences can occur. 

Well, I hope you found this post interesting, I just had it in my mind to write about it with recently covering the Ian Watkins case. If there's any other prisons you would like me to cover, let me know, I find this topic quite interesting. I should maybe write about the old school prisons, the way things were done back in the old days with public hangings. 

Anyway, my birthday is next Friday (5th of November) so I'm going to be taking a little break from making true crime content just for that weekend, but I will be back the Sunday after and I currently have a case that I am working on which will be published then. 

Further Reading & Sources:


As always, thank you for checking out the post and I'll see you in my next post hopefully or on my Socials

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