Lee Rigby’s killer set for ‘holiday camp’ in Broadmoor
NEW LUXURY UNIT HAS COST £3OOMILLION
LEE Rigby’s killer is to move to a £300million “luxury” unit for the criminally insane.
Michael Adebowale, who received a life sentence for the murder of the soldier, will be one of the first patients inside the revamped Broadmoor hospital.
Critics say it has similar facilities to a holiday resort.
The monster, currently in Wakefield jail, will be given his own “hotel-style” en-suite bedroom with power shower, where he will be able to watch TV and play computer games for hours on end.
Adebowale, 25, will also have access to tennis courts, a football pitch, gardens and a hospital supermarket where he will be able to buy crisps, chocolate, fizzy drinks, flowers and cakes.
The cost of keeping inmates in the new hospital will be around £350,000 a year according to official figures, almost seven times the cost of keeping a con locked up in jail.
The new secure hospital has been built on the same site as the Victorian prison in Crowthorne, Berks, and has held some of the most dangerous killers in British history.
Patients have included the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, Stockwell Strangler Kenneth Erskine and gangster Ronnie Kray.
Builders have spent five years working on the new hospital, which will have 16 wards and a total of 234 beds providing accommodation for 210 patients.
In the middle of the site will be a building that will house a variety of services located over two floors, including therapy and educational services and a multifaith centre. There will also be vocational training workshops, a gym, a family visiting suite and sports and music rooms.
One source said: “The new Broadmoor will be the most luxurious and expensive secure institution in the UK.
“Adebowale will be one of the first to be moved because he is one of the most dangerous people in the prison system. He could be moved in as early as next month.
“There will be a gradual move to the new building over the coming months.
“Whether Adebowale should be inside Broadmoor is a subject of much debate among staff. There is no doubt that he is dangerous and will always be a danger to society but a lot of the staff think he is simply playing the system because he wants a cushy life.” Adebowale and his accomplice Michael Adebolajo, 32, hacked Fusilier Rigby, inset, to death in Woolwich, south London, in 2013.
The attack shocked the world and Adebowale was given a 45-year prison sentence. He was transferred to Broadmoor in 2014 after doctors became concerned about his mental state. At the time he claimed he could hear voices in his head. He was transferred back to Wakefield in 2015 after doctors ruled he was bad and not mad. A Government spokesman said: “We do not comment on individual cases.”