Sick bomber hoped to be sent to Broadmoor – but then he saw 'disturbing' sight

David Copeland, the callous murderer who attempted to feign mental illness to avoid prison, received a disturbing awakening when he arrived at the notorious Broadmoor secure hospital. He was responsible for the death of four individuals and wounding over 140 in a twisted nail-bomb rampage across London in April 1999.

The neo-Nazi bomber targeted ethnic minorities and the LGBTQ+ community with three bombs filled with an estimated 1,500 100mm steel nails each, aiming to ignite a race war. His identity was exposed when police spotted him on CCTV images. But after his arrest he tried to dodge a prison term by convincing doctors that he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

This ruse is not uncommon with many perceiving life in Broadmoor to be significantly more bearable than in a conventional jail cell, although such strategies might backfire.

Channel 5's documentary on Broadmoor included comments from mental health nurse Paul Deacon, who recounted a past inmate’s regret after transferring to Broadmoor: "We had a chap who was in prison, but he knew that it would be easier and quieter for him to act, as he put it, 'mad,' and get transferred to Broadmoor. And that's exactly what happened. But when he walked in and he was on the wards, he was mortified. He cried to be sent back to prison."

Copeland tried a similar trick, and might have succeeded until he was hoodwinked by a series of "fan" letters penned by 'Patsy' – a fictitious identity conjured up by writer Bernard O'Mahoney.

During the weeks Copeland was held at Broadmoor awaiting trial, O'Mahoney successfully gained the killer's trust, this led to Copeland gradually revealing more about his true nature. According to O'Mahoney, Copeland was indifferent about his victims; "He didn't care who he blew up, he just wanted to blow the world up," reports the Mirror.

In the increasingly affectionate letters to the fictional Patsy, Copeland let slip his real thoughts, criticising the Broadmoor staff and belittling their intelligence: "He was critical of the doctors, saying 'This place is a joke, so are the doctors. They think they're clever, but they are as stupid as the fools in here'."

In another letter, O'Mahoney points out, Copeland expressed his boredom with the hospital regimen, mentioning someone's disturbing habit: "He was saying, 'things are so boring as usual. Someone keeps writing 'KILL' on the walls. What he writes isn't disturbing, but the fact he writes in his own s*** is. This is what this place is like'."

Even though five psychiatrists had diagnosed Copeland as a paranoid schizophrenic, these letters played a significant role in his conviction.

On June 30, 2000, the court found Copeland guilty of three counts of murder, for which he received six life sentences. The presiding judge, Michael Hyam, indicated that Copeland should likely never be freed due to the risks he posed.

After the sentence was passed, Copeland initially returned to Broadmoor, by 2004 he had been moved to HM Prison Belmarsh, where it is expected he will remain indefinitely.