A man who weighs 289kg in Austria was arrested after police found huge amounts of drugs in his home – but people aren’t happy with just how much it costs to care for him because of his weight
Austrians are outraged by the case of the “country’s heaviest inmate” – a man who weighs nearly 300kg and “costs ten times more” than the usual inmate.
The 29-year-old man is currently being held in pre-trial detention for two weeks over drug charges and has since been dubbed as Austria’s largest prisoner. Local reports said that he was transferred from Vienna’s Josefstadt prison to another unit as “his bed was threatening to collapse.” He was arrested after police raided his home, and found large quantities of drugs, including 45 kilos of cannabis, two kilos of cocaine, almost two kilos of amphetamines and more than 2,000 ecstasy tablets.
He is now incarcerated in Korneuburg Prison, which is located around 15km north of Vienna. The man, who weighs 289kg, now has his own specially welded, ultra-strong bed. He also receives round the clock care from external nurses.
Judicial sources said that the cost of caring for a prisoner like him can go up 1,800 euros per day, compared to just 180 euros for a “normal” criminal.
The Kronen Zeitung newspaper wrote: “He costs ten times more than a ‘normal’ inmate, according to 7sur7.
“While citizens outside prison often have to wait months for a doctor’s appointment, it seems there are funds available for serious criminals.”
Meanwhile, Britain’s longest serving prisoner has been moved from his ‘glass cage’ cell to another prison following the ending of his hunger strike.
Robert Maudsley, 71, went on hunger strike over the removal of his PlayStation and TV. The quadruple murderer, once considered the most dangerous inmate in the penal system, has now been transferred from Wakefield jail in West Yorkshire, known as ‘Monster Mansion’, to HMP Whitemoor in March, Cambridgeshire, a distance of 125 miles.
Maudsley is now housed in the F wing, a unit specifically designed for inmates with personality disorders. Friends allege he is being unfairly targeted.
Loveinia Grace MacKenney, 69, who has been corresponding with Maudsley for about five years, expressed her concerns: “They have put him with 70 other prisoners on a wing. It is a disaster waiting to happen. He does not want to be alongside other men because of the abuse he suffered as a child.”
She further revealed the distressing state he is in through his letters, stating, “You can tell from his letter to me what a terrible state he is in, his handwriting is shaky. He no longer has his TV, he has no radio. He was a model prisoner on his own, but I think they have targeted him.”
MacKenney added: “They are victimising him for no reason.”
Known among inmates as ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’, Maudsley had been confined alone in his cell at Wakefield for nearly 17,000 consecutive days.
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