Top 20 Times Bad Things Happened to Horrible People

#20: Peter Mandelson

Labour politician Peter Mandelson was one of the UK's most powerful figures for years. For a few months in Keir Starmer’s government, he was British Ambassador to the United States. This led to Starmer having to apologise profusely when it turned out Mandelson was involved with prolific criminal, Jeffrey Epstein. They weren’t just passing acquaintances; the pair had gotten up to a bunch of illicit activities, the extent of which is yet to be fully revealed. Mandelson lost all respect, alongside leaving the Labour Party and politics entirely. Now, a criminal investigation has been launched, so the worst is likely ahead of Mandelson.

#19: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

The list of celebrities involved with Epstein is too long to cover, but few have provided a worse response than Andrew did. He tried explaining himself in an infamous “Newsnight” interview in 2019, but failed spectacularly. It’s easily one of the most clumsy interviews in history, with Andrew doing nothing but making it worse for himself. He was later stripped of his royal styles and honours in 2025. Then, following the formal release of the Epstein files, Andrew was put under official investigation for misconduct in public office. He’s made far too many mistakes to be able to recover his reputation at this point, and now even King Charles is aiding the police in investigating him.

#18: Thomas Neill Cream

Also known as the Lambeth Poisoner, this Victorian serial killer was responsible for potentially 10 deaths in total. Many of his victims were lower-class women, whom he killed in multiple countries, mainly Canada, America, and the UK. These began in 1881, but that was after he’d already broken the law by performing a few dangerous and illegal abortions. His murders then continued throughout the decade, until he was finally captured in 1892. This happened not long after he gave an American policeman a tour of the places he’d killed his victims, revealing an incriminating amount of details about the murders. After a short trial, he was sentenced to death.

#17: Edward II

Only a handful of English Kings have been forced to abdicate, with Edward II being one of them. His reign lasted from 1307 until 1327 and was pretty disastrous. It included him becoming closely aligned with the Despenser family, who were hated by the nobility, who believed the family was exploiting the king. Edward famously suffered a crushing defeat against Robert the Bruce in the First War of Scottish Independence. Edward sought to ease tensions with France, which failed so spectacularly that his wife, Isabella, Queen of France, invaded England and then forced him to abdicate. The primary Despeners were executed, then Edward eventually died in captivity after being moved between castles in secret.

#16: George Joseph Smith

The only positive thing to come from this Victorian was the impact he had on forensics. This is because he was one of the earliest criminals ever captured using these modern techniques. During his life, he had a total of 8 wives, but only the first marriage was legal. Smith claimed the lives of 3 of these wives after convincing them to name him in their wills. All of them were found dead in a bathtub. Analysis of the bodies and great detective work revealed the truth behind the deaths, leading Smith to be tried and given the death penalty.

#15: Henry VIII

Few kings felt more kingly than Henry VIII, famous for his six wives and the English Reformation. He also earned a reputation for being a pretty bloodthirsty ruler. Henry used capital punishment so liberally that his contemporaries made up some heavily exaggerated figures for how many he killed. Italian mathematician Girolamo Cardano, who never visited England, claimed he killed 72,000 in total, almost 2,000 a year. In reality, historians believe this is roughly 3 to 4 times higher than the real number, but either way, it’s a staggering figure. In his final years, Henry suffered from a plethora of health issues, and eventually died aged 55th after years of mental and physical deterioration.

#14: John Christie

In the 40s and 50s, this horrific individual killed at least 8 people. They were all murdered in his home at 10 Rillington Place, London. To hide his crime, he stashed them around his abode, hiding 3 behind wallpaper, two more in his garden, and then his wife under the floorboards. This was all discovered after he moved out. Originally, Christie’s neighbour, Timothy Evans, was found guilty of murdering his own wife and unborn child. After a botched police investigation, with help from Christie, he was executed in 1950, a failure influential in abolishing capital punishment. 3 years later, Christie was found responsible, but that was after he claimed 4 more lives since Evans’ death. In the end, he too was hanged for his atrocities.

#13: Oswald Mosley & Diana Mitford

The British Union of Fascists was created by Mosley in 1932, which he led until it was forcibly disbanded in 1940. Mosley hoped Britain could ally itself with prominent fascists like Mussolini and Hitler. He even got married at the home of Goebbels, making Hitler the guest of honour. Early in the war, Mosley wanted Britain to accept Germany’s peace offer. So, a couple of weeks after Churchill took charge, Mosley and his wife were deemed too dangerous, so the pair were locked up. They remained behind bars until 1943, then he was moved to house arrest. After the war, he relocated abroad as he felt his reputation was tarnished from being aligned with Britain’s enemies.

#12: Peter Sutcliffe

Also known as the Yorkshire Ripper, Sutcliffe was as bloody as his name suggests. Between 1975 and 1980, he killed at least 13 people, plus he made numerous attempts to claim other lives. Before he was finally arrested, he’d been interviewed 9 times by police in total. They eventually caught him after he was spotted driving with fake plates. His life in prison was as unpleasant as you can expect, with him being assaulted on multiple occasions. One instance left him without sight in one eye. Sutcliffe eventually died of natural causes in 2020, aged 74, meaning he spent more of his life incarcerated than he did free.

#11: Ian Watkins

During the 2000s, the Lostprophets were a fairly pop ular Welsh rock band. At their core was founding member Ian Watkins, who would also be responsible for their downfall. In 2012, he was charged with multiple indecent offenses against minors. The band broke up within a year, and Watkins was sentenced to 29 years' imprisonment. His prison time was full of problems, as is often the case for people with convictions like his. In 2023, he was taken hostage and stabbed, which damaged both his spine and brain. 2 years later, he was stabbed again, but this time it was fatal.

#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.

Do you agree with our picks, or is there someone you think should or shouldn’t be on our list? Let us know in the comments below!