MANY GRIZZLY and shocking crimes have taken place across the country- and some of the criminals behind them are serving their sentence in prisons across Yorkshire.
Charles Bronson and Karen Matthews are just some of the notorious names who have been locked up in the county’s jails for their terrible crimes.
Here are some prisons across the county and just some of their most notorious inmates, past and present:
HM Leeds Prison
Address: Gloucester Terrace, Stanningley Rd, Leeds
Leeds Prison, otherwise known as Armley Goal, is a category B men’s prison that has been home to some truly gruelling and violent figures from history.
Charles Peace
Charles was a prolific burglar and double murderer from the late 1800s.
At one point, he was one of Britain’s most wanted men with a £100 (modern equivalent of £12,000) on his head.
In 1876, the Sheffield man shot and killed PC Nicholas Crook as he tried to escape from a house burglary.
This isn’t the only murder to his name as Peace developed and obsession with his friend’s wife
Charles ended up shooting Arthur Dyson dead after an argument.
Peace tried to escape capture- but was eventually captured after a burglary and attempted murder of a police officer.
He was tried and found guilty at Leeds prison- he was sentenced to death.
Peace was hanged at Armley Gaol in February 1879.
Emily Swann
Swann is the only woman to be hanged at this prison.
The mother of-11-had been having an affair with her lodger, John Gallagher.
After being hit by her husband, Gallagher beat Swann’s husband to death.
The pair were executed together on December 29, 1903.
As they stood in the gallows with a noose around their necks, Swann, said: “Good morning, John”.
Gallagher replied: “Good morning love.”
Swann then said: “Goodbye, God bless you” before the trapdoor opened and the two were killed.
HMP Full Sutton
Address: Moor Ln, Full Sutton, York
Full Sutton is a category A and B men’s prisons which currently holds over 566 inmates.
Donald Neilson
You might recognise Donald Neilson from his alias ‘the Black Panther’.
He is one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers and the killer actually came from Bradford.
He shot Donald Skepper, from Harrogate, and two others during a series of armed robberies in 1974
Another one of his victims was 17-year-old Lesley Whittle, who was kidnapped from her home the following year.
He was also responsible for more than 400 burglaries during a 10 year criminal career.
He was given a life sentence in 1976.
Steven Grieveson
Grieveson, also known as the Sunderland Strangler, is a serial killer who murdered four teenage boys between 1990 and 1994.
He targeted young males and would strangle to death before setting their bodies alight.
He was handed three life sentences for his crimes back in 1996.
HMP New Hall
Address: Flockton, Wakefield
This is a closed category prison for female adults, juveniles and young offenders.
Rosemary West
One of New Hall’s most notorious prisoners was Rose West.
She was originally placed in HMP Low Newton in Co Durham but had to move in 2019 after another notorious serial killer, Joanna Dennehy, tried to murder her.
For those who don’t known, Rose and her husband Fred were responsible for the torture and murder of at least twelve people.
However, some think this figure is thought much higher.
Most of the victims were also subject to rape and other forms of sexual torture before being killed.
Karen Matthews
In 2008, nine-year-old Shannon Matthews was reported missing in West Yorkshire.
The search for her became a major missing persons operation and Shannon made numerous public appeals for information on her daughter's whereabouts during the month she was missing.
Thankfully, police found her alive and well at Michael Donovan’s house.
It transpired that the pair had devised the plot to claim the reward money for finding Shannon.
In 2008, Matthews was sentenced to eight years in prison at HMP New Hall for kidnapping, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.
She was released in 2012.
HMP Wakefield
Address: Love Lane, Wakefield
This category A prison has held some of the worst criminals and killers in history.
It has been nicknamed ‘Monster Mansion’ due to the large number of high profile inmates behind its doors.
Robert Maudsley
Maudsley has been dubbed the ‘brain eater’ for initial false reports that he ate the brain of one of his victims.
He is currently serving a life sentence in a special underground cell at Wakefield Prison.
Maudsley has killed four people in total- three murders of which took place in prison.
Jeremy Bamber
Bamber was convicted of a crime that became known as ‘The White House Farm Murders’.
He was found guilty of murdering his adoptive parents, sister and her twin sons after all of them were found with gun shot wounds in 1985.
The scene had been made to look like a murder-suicide, with his sister Sheila Caffell, who had schizophrenia, initially thought to have carried out the killings before turning the gun on herself.
To this day, Bamber maintains his innocence despite his life sentence.
In 2020, he lost a bid to bring a legal challenge over a refusal by the Prison Service to downgrade him from maximum security.
Harold Shipman
Shipman is regarded as one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history.
He was an general practitioner in the 80s and 90s who was highly regarded in the local community.
However, he was secretly giving them a lethal dose of poison and walking away with cash from some of their wills.
He was found guilty of murdering 15 patients in the year 2000- but is suspected of killing as many as 250.
He committed suicide in 2004 while still at Wakefield prison.
Charles Bronson
Bronson is currently serving time at HMP Frankland in County Durham for a charge of robbery and kidnap.
However, he spent some of his sentence at numerous prisons across the country, including Wakefield as well as Leeds prison.
He was sentenced for armed robbery in 1974, in which time he had taken hostages in 10 prison sieges and attacked over 20 prison officers.
Since then, he has been in and out of prison and his crimes have included holding a librarian hostage, threatening to eat a fellow inmate unless his demands were met and assaulting a prison governor.
He was finally given a life sentence after kidnapping a prison teacher in 1999.
In 2018, he was cleared of trying to seriously harm hard a prison governor after being accused of threatening to gouge his eyes out at HMP Wakefield.
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