John Straffen

Who was John Straffen?

John Thomas Straffen was a British serial killer who was the longest-serving prisoner in British legal history. Straffen killed two young girls in the summer of 1951. He was found to be unfit to plead and committed to Broadmoor Hospital; during a brief escape in 1952, he killed again. This time, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Reprieved because of his mental state, he had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment, and he remained in prison until his death more than 55 years later.