John Straffen - Reprieve and Prison

Reprieve and Prison

After the reprieve Straffen was moved to Wandsworth Prison. In November 1952 the Home Office denied a rumour that he was about to be moved to Rampton mental institution. In 1956 Straffen was moved to Horfield Prison in Bristol, after officers discovered an escape attempt by Wandsworth prisoners who intended to take Straffen with them as a diversion. The news caused extreme concern in Bristol and a petition demanding his removal was organised by a local councillor and signed by 12,000 people within weeks.

In August 1958, Straffen was moved to Cardiff Prison when the regime at Horfield Prison was changed to a more liberal one. However, he was reported to have been transferred back in June 1960.

A new 28-cell high security wing at Parkhurst Prison was built and ready for opening early in 1966. The Home Office pointedly did not deny rumours that Straffen had been secretly transferred there on 31 January 1966. He was the first to arrive, and was followed by six of the Great Train robbers.

In May 1968 Straffen was moved to Durham Prison. Placed on the top security E wing, Straffen was joined by fellow child killer Ian Brady. Crime author Jonathan Goodman wrote that "the shambling lunatic .. is in prison only because no mental institution is secure enough to guarantee his confinement". Many years later, a prison officer recalled seeing Straffen "circling, banging the fence every couple of minutes", and that one fellow officer described Straffen as aloof and hostile: "Never talks unless he has to ask for something. Always on his own".

Straffen was still there in January 1984 when Kenneth Barlow was released after serving 26 years for murder, at which point he became the longest serving British prisoner.