Christmas is usually associated with family gatherings, gift exchanges, and large festive meals.
For most people, it is a day marked by warmth and human connection. But for one man inside Britain’s prison system, the day looks starkly different.
Robert Maudsley, often referred to as Britain’s most dangerous prisoner, will spend Christmas completely alone.
Rather than joining other inmates or even remaining in a standard cell, he will pass the day inside a specially built, bulletproof glass box beneath the prison, isolated from everyone else.
Britain’s most dangerous prisoner and his crimes
Maudsley is now 72 years old and has been behind bars since the 1970s.
He was convicted of three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter, crimes that have kept him permanently separated from the general prison population.
According to The Guardian, Maudsley has claimed that he only murdered men who were rapists, pedophiles, or sex offenders.
He has linked his actions to his own childhood, stating that he was sexually abused and raped by his father.
His first victim was John Farrell, a man who picked Maudsley up for sex while Maudsley was working as a sex worker in London to fund a drug addiction.
During their encounter, Farrell reportedly showed Maudsley images of children he had sexually abused. Maudsley later strangled Farrell to death, then turned himself in to police and told them he needed psychiatric care.
Murders committed behind bars
Maudsley’s second victim was David Francis, a convicted child molester.
Francis was murdered in prison after Maudsley tortured him for nine hours.
His third victim, Salney Darwood, had been imprisoned for killing his wife. Maudsley strangled and stabbed Darwood, then soon after stabbed his final victim, William Roberts, to death.
Following the final two murders, Maudsley reportedly turned himself in to prison guards and informed them that the evening roll call would be missing two inmates.
According to The Sun, Maudsley has spent longer in solitary confinement than any other prisoner in British history. This is largely because he has consistently said that he would kill again if given the opportunity.
Life inside a glass cell, even at Christmas
Maudsley spends 23 hours a day inside a bulletproof glass cell built specifically for him beneath the prison.
He is not allowed to mix with other prisoners under any circumstances, including Christmas Day.
In 2021, his nephew revealed that Maudsley had asked to be allowed to join the general prison population, hoping to spend Christmas around other people. The request was rejected.
"He was told no last month but appealed against the decision and wanted to spend Christmas in the presence of other humans. But he's just been told no for the final time. Being alone for that long does something to you. He isn't OK and they cannot take the risk of what he might do. They simply cannot take the risk," his nephew said.
The letter that shocked prison officials
In 2000, Maudsley wrote a letter in which he asked for the death penalty. In it, he questioned the purpose of his continued confinement.
"What purpose is served by keeping me locked up 23 hours a day? Why even bother to feed me and to give me one hour's exercise a day? Who actually am I a risk to? " he wrote.
"As a consequence of my current treatment and confinement, I feel that all I have to look forward to is indeed psychological breakdown, mental illness, and probable suicide. Why can't I have a budgie instead of flies, cockroaches, and spiders which I currently have. I promise to love it and not eat it?" he continued.
"Why can't I have a television in my cell to see the world and learn? Why can't I have any music tapes and listen to beautiful classical music?
"If the Prison Service says no then I ask for a simple cyanide capsule which I shall willingly take and the problem of Robert John Maudsley can easily and swiftly be resolved," his letter concluded.
Maudsley has since moved to HMP Whitemoor as of 2025, where he experiences slightly more favorable conditions.