Rapist Victor Farrant Dies In London Prison
- Hoskins, who killed Mother-of-three, dropped dead weeks after bidding for freedom
A violent rapist, Victor Farrant, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for drowning a mum-of-three about 28 years ago, has died in a London prison.
According to the Prison Service, Farrant had died on Friday at HMP Wakefield, aged 74 and a coroner is expected to look into the cause of his death. HM Prison Wakefield (His Majesty’s Prison Wakefield) is a Category A men’s prison in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, operated by His Majesty’s Prison Service.
The Prison holds approximately 600 of Britain’s most dangerous people (mainly sex offenders, murderers, and prisoners serving life sentences). Originally built as a house of correction in 1594, the prison has been nicknamed the “Monster Mansion” due to the large number of high-profile, high-risk sex offenders and murderers held there.

Farrant had asked to be freed on compassionate grounds in March 2024, after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He had initially been jailed in 1998 for the murder of Glenda Hoskins, 44, and the attempted murder of 45-year-old Anne Fidler, with the judge saying his crimes were ‘so terrible’ that he should never be released.
Ms Hoskins’ family was said to be ‘petrified’ that her killer could walk free from prison regardless. However, with the death of Farrant, the victim’s children released a statement to say the news of his passage brought an end to an ‘agonising two months’.
The statement from Iain, Katie, and David, the children of Ms Hoskins, said; “Farrant’s whole life sentence and the judges’ remarks that he should die in prison should have been respected.
“However, Farrant’s death, like his imprisonment, changes nothing for us, the circumstances and death of our mother, Glenda Hoskins, will haunt us for the rest of our lives.
“His death, though, does bring to a close a very painful chapter for us all. We and the public at large should certainly feel safer that this repeat-offender psychopath will not strike again.’
Glenda was survived by her three children and former husband.
Farrant had been jailed in November 1988 for a total of 12 years for rape and other offences. He was released on November 7, 1995, just weeks before he savagely beat Ms Fidler at her home in Eastleigh, Hampshire.

Six weeks later, Farrant went on to murder accountant, Mrs Hoskins at her luxury waterside home in Portsmouth by pushing her under the water in the bath.
He left her body in the attic where it was found by her 15-year-old daughter Katie.
After killing Mrs Hoskins, Farrant went on the run, taking her car to Continental Europe. Eventually found and arrested in the south of France, he returned to Britain to face criminal charges.
Documented as having been born in 1949/1950, Farrant was a labourer from Portsmouth, England and his family did express sympathy with the families of his victims