Serial killer Dennis Nilsen boasted of smoking cannabis in his prison cell every weekend for a more than a decade
SERIAL killer Dennis Nilsen boasted of smoking cannabis in his prison cell every weekend for more than a decade.
Nilsen - who was convicted of the murders of 12 men at his flat in London - complained in prison letters that drug testing had put an end to his habit.
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His crimes have been made into a new ITV drama called 'Des' starring David Tennant, which continues tonight.
In a letter written in his cell at top security Full Sutton near York in 2003, he revealed: “I used to smoke cannabis on weekends but the compulsory piss tests were forced on us.
“I had my last puff in this direction at the end of 1995. By saying this, I do not wish to denigrate cannabis which is often helpful as a sedative in the prison setting.
“Yes, I suppose there are risks as there is with everything deemed to be unhealthy, fatty foods, smoking, drinking, medication, air pollution etc.
“On balance it is much more beneficial than the ‘demon drink’. Have you noticed that a large proportion of crimes of violence are accompanied by alcohol?”
In another letter written in 2003 he said his family had “froze me out over 20 years ago and I now know nothing at all of them”.
KILLER'S LETTERS FOR SALE
The letters are for sale on US ‘murderbilia’ site Supernaught, selling for up to US$475 (£369) each.
Nilsen – who died of cancer aged 72 in 2018 - claimed his first victim on December 30, 1978, when 14-year-old Stephen Holmes came to his flat, drank until he fell asleep and stayed the night.
A year later, he killed 23-year-old Canadian student Kenneth Ockenden after offering to show him the sights of London.
His final victim was 20-year-old Stephen Sinclair, who went back to Nilsen’s London flat in 1983 with the promise of alcohol and a look at his record collection.
ITV's Des - a three-part series - will tell the horrific story through Nilsen himself, DCI Peter Jay and biographer Brian Masters.
Nilsen, who killed 15 men in the 1970s and 80s, was also known as the "kindly killer".
He was a civil servant working for Manpower Services Commission in job centres around London.
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Nilsen frequented London pubs targeting men, who were often homeless, and chatting to them before luring them back to his flat where he drowned or strangled them.
The twisted killer would then often sit with their bodies for days.
He committed necrophilic acts on their bodies, then chopped them up and burned, boiled or buried the pieces.
