Chilling reason whistling is banned near 'glass box' of Britain's most dangerous killer
When you're locked up in a prison so infamous it's called 'Monster Mansion' the last thing you want to do is wind up your neighbours.
Unless you have a death wish, of course.
A new chilling crime book called Inside Wakefield Prison: Life Behind Bars in the Monster Mansion by Jonathan Levi and Emma French has now revealed exactly what life is like for the residents of the Category A prison - including the chilling reason why you can't whistle near the notorious Robert Maudsley.
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Nicknamed 'Hannibal The Cannibal' Maudsley, 71, is serving a life sentence at HMP Wakefield and is currently kept in a 'glass' cell due to his dangerous nature.
Convicted of killing four people - with three of the killings occurring while he was behind bars - Maudsley was given a whole life sentence.
He was later moved to solitary confinement in the the basement of the prison in 1983 after being deemed too dangerous for a normal cell.
The book noted that Maudsley has a particular hatred for whistling, with the disturbing reason being revealed.
According to a source referred to as Jo, the reason for Maudsley's extreme aversion to whistling stemmed from abuse he had received as a child.
"His mother was vile to him. It's said she locked him in the cupboard and whistled," they explained.
"I'd come from New Hall. I was walking, whistling and they were saying, 'Ma'am, you can't whistle'. I said, 'You what? You're telling me not to whistle because it upsets a con?'"
The source also detailed an alleged feud between Maudsley and fellow inmate by the name of Charles Bronson (not that Charles Bronson, another one), with the later often whistling to wind him up.
"It was just weird. He hated Bronson and Bronson hated him. Bronson used to whistle sometimes," Jo said.
The book also added that Maudsley would apparently respond by blasting loud rock music to infuriate Bronson.
Originally born in Liverpool, Maudsley would go on to kill his first victim, a man named John Farrell, in 1974. Maudsley had encountered Farrell in London while working as a sex worker and garroted him after Farrell revealed images of children he had sexually abused.
His next attack took place while he was locked away in Broadmoor Hospital during 1977, with the grisly attack earning him the nickname 'Hannibal The Cannibal' for alleged cannibalism (which would later turn out to be false).
He would later kill two men at HMP Wakefield in 1978 and later confessing the crimes to a prison officer, allegedly saying: "There’ll be two short on the roll call."
The murders would trigger his move to solitary confinement.
LADbible has contacted HMP Wakefield for comment.
Brenna Cooper