Top 10 Times Bad Things Happened to Horrible People

#10: Bloody Mary

Properly known as Mary Tudor, in 1553 she became England’s first Queen regnant. As her nickname suggests, she wasn’t particularly a role model for women of the time. She burned hundreds of her religious opponents alive in her efforts to undo her father’s move away from Catholicism as part of the English reformation. In the end, she grew ill from either ovarian cysts or uterine cancer. This wouldn’t have been a surprise as she’d suffered from illnesses of the sort from youth. Her final few months were likely excruciating, as she had frequent fevers, headaches, and even lost her vision temporarily. In the end, she died without a child, making Elizabeth queen, who decided to undo all of her religious policies.

#9: Hawley Harvey Crippen

Thankfully, execution is no longer a legal punishment in the UK. It was, however, in the early 20th century, and Crippen was one of many criminals who were hanged. Crippen was also the first criminal captured using wireless telegraphy. In 1910, he disappeared after burying his wife’s corpse in his basement. Crippen was sailing across the Atlantic with his disguised mistress when he was caught. The ship’s captain found him suspicious, so he telegraphed Scotland Yard, who hopped on a ship and quickly caught up with them. Crippen and his accomplice Ethel Le Neve were arrested, then faced trial soon after.

#8: Oliver Cromwell

One of the most influential figures in UK history was, easily, Cromwell. He was the figurehead of the Parliamentarian army during the English Civil War, a group who ended up overthrowing the monarchy. The executed King was replaced by Cromwell in his role as the Lord Protector. What’s the difference between Lord Protector and King? The name, mostly. Cromwell was known for his exceeding cruelty as a military leader, particularly against Ireland. In the end, he died after, it is believed, struggling with kidney stones and malaria. Initially, they gave him a grand funeral as was traditional for monarchs. After the restoration of the monarchy, though, they posthumously executed him, then displayed his head at Westminster. It then exchanged hands for years, until it eventually got buried in 1960.

#7: Steve Merike

Also known as Michael Willis, this man was jailed for 18 months after it was discovered he was in possession of indecent imagery of minors. In the 70s, he was BBC Radio 1’s DJ Steve Merike, reportedly being associated with the now notorious Jimmy Savile. He was first jailed in 2020 after a police raid on his yacht. He had also previously worked as a college lecturer, school governor, and even stood in the 2010 election as a Liberal Democrat. Well, he was jailed for a while, then changed his name to David Evans. In February 2025, he was found dead after drowning in the River Dart, Devon.

#6: King Charles I

Before Cromwell’s terrible reign, we had Charles I’s appalling one. He was a staunch believer in the divine right of kings, meaning he wanted absolute power and would dissolve parliament when he didn’t get it. This motivated parliament to revolt, kickstarting the English Civil Wars. Charles lost the first phase by 1645, then fled to Scotland. The Scots handed him over to the English, where he refused his opponents' demands. Two years later, he fled again, was then re-imprisoned, and was eventually executed in 1649. Ironically, the charge was high treason, despite his being the king. He’s the only British monarch ever executed, unless you count Cromwell, who was executed after dying, impressively.

#5: King Richard III

The death of King Richard III signalled the end of the Middle Ages in England. He was one of the leading figures of the War of the Roses, fought between the Houses of Lancaster & York for the English throne. Richard was the last of the House of York to sit on the throne, reigning from 1483 to 85. He wasn’t a particularly pleasant guy, famous for imprisoning Edward V and his younger brother in the Tower of London. No one knows what happened to them, but the leading theory is that they were murdered. Richard eventually died at the Battle of Bosworth Field, where he was buried. His remains were eventually discovered under a car park in Leicester in 2012.

#4: Robert Maxwell

The father of notorious criminal Ghislaine Maxwell was a long way away from being someone to look up to. Some sources claim he was the one who introduced Ghislaine to Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell was a wealthy businessman and briefly a Labour MP in the ‘60s. Towards the end of the century, it turned out he had embezzled millions from his companies’ pension funds. Part of this theft ended up being repaid by the government. This was all revealed after he fell off his yacht in 1991 and died from drowning. Justice was never served to Maxwell for his crimes, but his publishing empire collapsed in the 90s, and his sons filed for bankruptcy in 1995.

#3: King John

The Angevin Empire was a group of territories owned by the House of Plantagenet towards the end of the High Middle Ages. It comprised most of France, England, then parts of Wales & Ireland. King John ruled the empire from 1199 until 1216, and was responsible for losing it. At the end of his reign, the Barons revolted and forced him to sign the Magna Carta, limiting the monarch’s power. He wasn’t that eager to sign it, and died of dysentery a few months later. Hilariously, he was portrayed as the cowardly lion prince from Disney’s “Robin Hood”.

#2: Ian Brady

Between 1963 and 65, Ian Brady & Myra Hindley murdered multiple children in Saddleworth Moor near Manchester. The pair ended up getting life sentences for their crimes, only leaving to help search for the victims they hadn’t found. Hindley died after 36 years behind bars in 2002. Brady, on the other hand, was diagnosed as a psychopath in the 80s. He asked never to be released, eventually becoming one of England’s longest-serving prisoners. Supposedly, his conditions were terrible, with staff attacking him and force-feeding him while he was on hunger strike. Eventually, in 2017, he died of pulmonary disease after years of trying to starve himself to death.

#1: Guy Fawkes

Few schemers have had as much impact on British history as Guy Fawkes. He was part of a Catholic plot to blow up the House of Lords, funnelling barrels of gunpowder into their basement. Interestingly, it’s a myth that he was the movement’s leader. Fawkes was simply the guy they found in the basement at the time. Fawkes and friends hoped to put a Catholic king on the throne, but it all fell apart when someone sent a letter telling one of the Lords to stay home. Fawkes was then sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, one of the most brutal punishments imaginable. Fawkes only got one-third of his punishment, however, opting to break his neck during the hanging.

Were there any entries we forgot to mention? Let us know in the comments below!