Inside UK's most notorious jail where Baby P's evil killer is terrified of attack & rapists & murderers play hide & seek

The Sun

20-06-2025

SADISTIC Baby P killer Steven Barker spent his time in notorious Belmarsh prison 'watching children's daytime TV', a new book claims.
Loathed more than any other inmate in a nick where terrorists and mass murderers do time, evil Barker was confined to his cell due to being 'at extreme risk of harm', according to a former lag.
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The monster, who tortured his 17-month-old stepson Peter Connelly to death, was jailed for 12 years in 2009 over the tot's death in Tottenham, north London, two years earlier.
Despite staying holed up in the jail, he was still targeted by other prisoners hellbent on revenge.
'Many inmates would go to his door, shout abuse and squirt urine from a Lynx shower gel bottle under his door,' the ex-prisoner claimed.
'He was detested. Staff at Belmarsh hated him, too.'
The revealing new book, called Inside Belmarsh, also features claims that Black Cab Rapist John Worboys and Whitechapel Ripper Derek Brown bragged behind bars about concealing bodies.
The hideous pair revelled in being 'hide and seek champions', according to the book about some of the high-security jail 's most notorious cons. There is no evidence that Worboys ever committed murder.
It also claims terrorist Abu Hamza al-Masri — known as Captain Hook — was a serial 'whinger' who refused to be searched by women guards and requested special fittings for his cell.
And former Conservative Cabinet member Jonathan Aitken, who served time in Belmarsh for perjury in 1999, tells how he helped write messages to lags' girlfriends.
Now a prison chaplain, Aitken says one inmate asked him: 'Would you mind telling her that I'm longing to f*** her a different way?'
'Joke about victims'
Nicknamed Hellmarsh, the South East London nick has housed the dregs of Britain's criminal fraternity, including killer cop Wayne Couzens, nail bomber David Copeland and child killer Stuart Hazell.
Authors Jonathan Levi and Emma French have pieced together the lives of some of the most notorious offenders after speaking to former wardens and lags.
The insiders' account of life in Belmarsh tells how Steven Barker — convicted of causing or allowing baby Peter 's death — was forced to lead a hermit-like existence.
A former inmate said: 'In his case, it was deemed too much of a risk to allow him out of his cell. He was constantly locked up. He had greasy blond hair; he was very dirty and had poor hygiene and smelt.
'He is well over 6ft tall. A Lurch-type character. He had all his meals brought to his door. He never showered, never went out on exercise.
'He just sat in his cell watching children's daytime TV.'
The book also details how serial sex fiend John Worboys and murderer Derek Brown developed a hideous friendship inside the nick.
Worboys, 68, was jailed for at least eight years in 2009 for sex offences, including one rape, against 12 women.
A decade later, he got a minimum of six years after admitting drugging four more with the intent to sexually assault them — although cops believe he may have had over 100 victims.
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Picking up women late at night, he would claim that he had won money and offer them champagne laced with sedatives. Once incapacitated, he sexually assaulted them.
One inmate said of Worboys: 'He would joke about his victims at times. He was very polite and quite pleasant to talk to. But as I got to know him well, I saw another side.'
Worboys' prison pal Derek Brown, 61, lured two women from the streets of London 's East End before murdering them in his home. Neither body has ever been found.
One ex-con told the authors Worboys had confided in him that he had 'murdered a boy'.
The lag alleged: 'The boy he claimed to have murdered was a young boy from up north who travelled to London.
'He was 15, had a young face and glasses. I don't remember the name.
'Worboys said he was a hide and seek champion, too, and referred to the missing boy. Him and his mate in Bournemouth, Dave, did the boy.
'I left it and thought nothing of it, then it came on TV about the missing boy, a cold case. I saw it.
"Worboys referred to it again and said that was his case. Brown and Worboys are from the same area and slept with the same prostitutes. They both knew each other.
'Brown never said he was involved, but with Worboys, there is a massive dark side.'
Worboys said he was a hide and seek champion, too, and referred to the missing boy. Him and his mate in Bournemouth, Dave, did the boy
Lag, on John Worboys
An ex-prison officer named Jo remembered Worboys 'clearly', adding: 'I said at the time, 'If I got into his taxi, I would've felt completely safe'. That was the strange part, he had a warm, friendly face.
'On the wing, he was always polite. He'd say, 'Morning, ma'am', and he wasn't a disciplinary problem. He didn't come across as threatening, though of course, we all knew what he'd done.'
Hook-handed hate preacher Abu Hamza was held in Belmarsh's High Security Unit. The former imam of Finsbury Park Mosque in North London, he was extradited to the US in 2012, where he is serving life for terror offences.
An ex-inmate who was in the Belmarsh unit with Hamza described him as 'overweight, diabetic, high blood pressure, not very healthy', adding: 'Hamza was a serious complaints person. His disability allowed him to request a special fitted cell.
'Read a Bible'
'He had an adapted toilet with holding rails, a new sink with touch taps because of his one hand, his bed was adapted with an extra mattress to ease his back issue.
'He refused to be searched by female staff because of his Muslim faith (it was not allowed for a woman to touch a man), and he would argue with staff at any opportunity.'
Met Police officer Wayne Couzens — who murdered marketing executive Sarah Everard in 2021 — tried to keep to the medical wing of the prison to avoid retribution, it is said. Jail worker Nik revealed: ''He barely spoke.
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'He was always in the healthcare wing, under constant observation because he was a high-risk target for other inmates, purely because he was a police officer.
Another ex-officer recalled: 'Wayne Couzens was there for the trial. He read a Bible for 18 months.'
An officer called Caroline, who carried out Couzens' suicide watch, added: 'He was so quiet, like a mouse, didn't really speak.'
Child killer Stuart Hazell — who got at least 38 years for murdering 12-year-old Tia Sharp in New Addington, South London, in 2012 — was held on remand at Belmarsh during his trial.
One con whose prison stretch coincided with the killer's said: 'He was broken by the brutal regime at Belmarsh. I have seen offenders plead guilty at the last minute because of the stress.
'One such offender was Hazell. The public were led to believe the evidence against him was so strong, he did the right thing and pleaded guilty.
"The facts are — and this was said by him to me — it was simply the aggravation of the journey, the process that made him change his plea to guilty. Belmarsh broke him.'
Barry George — wrongfully convicted of the 1999 murder of BBC presenter Jill Dando — was bullied by staff, the book alleges.
A former inmate said: 'Staff were very hostile towards him. They all called him 'Mrs Dando', which was, frankly, a little discourteous.
'He complained about the food and the conditions.'
The ex-lag revealed Barry's cell was full of law books, adding: 'The public perception of him is that he is a slow, simplistic man with mental health issues, not very articulate and with no academic skills. This is wrong.'
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange caused a stir when he was visited at Belmarsh in 2019 by celeb backer and former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson.
Ex-prison officer Nik said it caused 'havoc' among staff, admitting: 'It was bizarre seeing someone like her in that environment.'
Of Assange, the former prison worker added: ''He's unhygienic, arrogant and narcissistic. He thought he was above the regime and made life difficult for staff. He refused to conform and thinks of himself like some kind of god.'
Another ex-lag called Mike added of Assange: 'He looked like Father Christmas on crack.'
Inside Belmarsh: Banged Up in Britain's Toughest Prison, by Jonathan Levi and Emma French, published July 3.
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