A NEW documentary series is set to air all about the secrets of the UK's most famous prisons, with the first focusing on HMP Dartmoor. It's fronted by presenter and barrister Rob Rinder . Here's all you need to know about one of Dartmoor's most notorious inmates, who the Kray twins helped break out.
The Mad Axeman is the name given to notorious criminal Frank Mitchell. He was a friend of the Kray twins , the criminals who ruled the streets of London in the swinging sixties. He famously escaped from Dartmoor Prison with their help and, despite the biggest manhunt ever mounted on the moor, was never recaptured.
Mitchell was born in East London in 1929 and was one of seven children. He led a life of petty crime during his younger years and from his late teens onwards, he was regularly in and out of prison. He became increasingly violent, and picked up a reputation for attacking guards and his fellow inmates.
Mitchell was eventually sent to Rampton and then Broadmoor psychiatric hospitals, however he managed to escape out of both. It was after his second escape that he picked up the name The Mad Axeman. He broke into a private home after making his escape from Broadmoor, and held a couple hostage with an axe.
In October 1958 Mitchell was sentenced to life imprisonment for robbery with violence. He was sent to Dartmoor Prison, where his behaviour is said to have improved. But in 1966, with the help of the Krays , he managed to escape.
It led to a political storm, with the prison a.