Evil Behind Bars airs on Channel 5 at 10pm, exploring the history and criminals housed at one of the UK’s most notorious prisons.
Located in West Yorkshire, the walls at HMP Wakefield have seen their fair share of dangerous convicts.
It has housed terrorists, serial killers and psychopaths, with many still there to this day.
However, some of the most notorious are criminals of the past – including Charles Bronson and Harold Shipman.
There is a reason why Channel 5 chose to use the word evil in the show’s title, as many of the acts these criminals committed are unthinkable in their horror and depravity.
Charles Bronson
The press called him the “most violent prisoner in Britain” and “Britain’s most notorious prisoner.”
Born Michael Gordon Peterson, he has spent most of his life behind bars after first being arrested for petty crimes in 1974.
He attacked guards and other prisoners during his stay but was eventually released in 1987.
That year, he became a bare-knuckle boxer, where he gained his title of Charles Bronson before returning to prison in 1988.
He was also the subject of Nicolas Winding Refn’s film Bronson, where Tom Hardy played the title role.
Klaus Fuchs
A German theoretical physicist and atomic spy, Klaus Fuchs gave over British, American and Canadian intelligence from the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union.
He was instrumental in early calculations in early nuclear weapons shortly after the Second World War, even helping with early models of the hydrogen bomb.
He was convicted in 1950 and spend nine years in the UK before migrating to East Germany and resumed his career as a scientific leader.
Ian Huntley
Behind the Soham Murders, Ian Huntley killed two children in Soham, Cambridgeshire.
Born in Grimsby, Ian ended up working as a school caretaker in Soham before luring Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman to his home.
He was jailed in 2003, and held at HMP Wakefield until 2008 when he was moved to HMP Frankland.
Harold Shipman
Considered one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history, Harold Shipman was sent to HMP Wakefield in 2000.
He was a former GP and was found guilty of murdering fifteen patients under his care, though it is believed he killed an estimated 250 victims.
He eventually hanged himself in 2004 inside the prison just before his 58th birthday.
Colin Ireland
Known as the Gay Slayer, Colin Ireland is a serial killer that targeted homosexual victims.
He frequented a gay pub in Earl’s Court, London, seeking men who liked the passive role so he could easily restrain them in what they thought was a sexual game.
Colin claimed he was heterosexual, having been married twice to women.
He pretended to be gay and was highly organised in his pre-planned killings.
He was eventually jailed in 1993 and died in 2012 behind bars at the age of 57.
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