The Category A men's prison, the largest high-security prison in the UK, holds around 600 of the country's most dangerous people, mainly sex offenders and prisoners serving life sentences.
Current inmates include Jeremy Bamber, who was charged for the murder of his mother, father, sister and her two sons in Essex on August 6 1985, Sidney Cooke,- a child molester and serial killer, described by The Guardian newspaper in 1999 as 'Britain's most notorious paedophile' and Reynhard Sinaga, who was convicted of 159 sex offences, including 136 rapes of young men, in Manchester between 2015 and 2017.
Here are some more of the most notorious inmates of Wakefield prison over the decades:
1. Kamel Bourgass
Kamel Bourgass murdered police officer Stephen Oake in a bloody attack in Manchester in 2003. Mr Oake attempted to apprehend the Algerian as part of an immigration operation at a flat, but Bourgass picked up a kitchen knife and launched into a frenzied attack, stabbing the unarmed police officer eight times in the chest and upper body. Photo: Getty
2. Jeremy Bamber
Jeremy Bamber was found guilty of murdering his family on August 7, 1985, in the village of Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex. He was found responsible for the deaths his sister Sheila Caffell, her twin six-year-old sons, Daniel and Nicholas, and his parents, Nevill and June Bamber. He has always maintained innocence and has repeatedly appealed the conviction but remains unsuccessful. Photo: s
3. Ian Watkins
Ian Watkins was sentenced to 29 years imprisonment for sexual offences, including the assault of young children, in 2013. He began his sentence in Wakefield, but was then transferred to HM Prison Long Lartin on 25 January 2014. Photo: s
4. Levi Bellfield
Milly Dowler's killer Levi Bellfield was convicted of murdering Marsha McDonnell and Amlie Delagrange and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy in 2008. He was later moved to HMP Frankland. Photo: s