London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 22, 2026

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers want her in general jail population, say Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide is affecting her treatment

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers want her in general jail population, say Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide is affecting her treatment

Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite accused of abetting sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged abuse of underage girls, is being intensely watched in a New York City jail in an apparent effort to keep her from killing herself as Epstein did in another jail last year, her lawyers told a judge in a new court filing.

That scrutiny until recently included Maxwell, 58, being “subjected to suicide watch protocols.”

Those have included “being woken up every few hours during the night and being forced to wear special clothing” as she is kept alone in a special housing unit at the Metropolitan Detention Center, her lawyers wrote.

And “she continues to be surveilled 24 hours a day by security cameras and by multiple prison guards, many of whom do not appear to be regular MDC personnel,” the filing said.

“These prison guards constantly observe Ms. Maxwell and take notes on her every activity, including her phone conversations with defense counsel.”

And, “her cell is searched multiple times a day and she has been forced to undergo numerous body scans,” the lawyers wrote Manhattan federal Judge Alison Nathan.

The letter asks Nathan to order that Maxwell, who is being held without bail, be moved into the general inmate population at the Brooklyn, New York, jail “so that she can meaningfully participate in her defense.”

They also asked that she be given “significantly increased access to a computer terminal in order to review” evidence in the case.

The lawyers wrote that “Maxwell does not seek special treatment at the MDC; but she does ask that she not be specially disfavored in her treatment in detention, especially when it comes to preparing her defense to conduct that allegedly took place over 25 years ago.”

Maxwell was arrested last month on federal criminal charges that accuse her of recruiting and grooming several underage girls in the mid-1990s so that they could be sexually abused by the wealthy investor Epstein, sometimes with Maxwell’s participation.

Both she and Epstein for years had socialized with rich and powerful people, including former Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, and Britain’s Prince Andrew.




Maxwell’s lawyers, in their letter to Nathan, wrote that “Maxwell has been treated less favorably than a typical pretrial detainee, and this has impacted her ability to assist in her defense.”

“It has become apparent that the [Bureau of Prison’s] treatment of Ms. Maxwell is a reaction to the circumstances surrounding the pretrial detention and death of Mr. Epstein.”

Epstein died from suicide by hanging on Aug. 10, 2019, in the federal jail in Manhattan, where he was being held without bail on child sex trafficking charges.

Two guards at that jail have been criminally charged with trying to cover up their failure to monitor him and other inmates on the day of his death, which came weeks after he apparently attempted suicide in the same jail for the first time.

“As a result of what occurred with Mr. Epstein, Ms. Maxwell is being treated worse than other similarly situated pretrial detainees, which significantly impacts her ability to prepare a defense and be ready for trial on the schedule set by the Court,” Maxwell’s lawyers wrote the judge.

The lawyers said that unlike Epstein, Maxwell has never been suicidal or diagnosed with showing risk factors for suicide.

Trump recently said of Maxwell, “I wish her well.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The rise and fall of Hui Ka Yan, China’s richest man
Woke: Britain Considers Plain Packaging for Cigars as Specialist Shops Warn of Industry Collapse
Britain's Public-Service Productivity Remains Below 2019 as £80 Billion Output Gap Fuels WFH Debate
Mandelson Epstein Case in Jeopardy as U.S. Files Stay Out of Reach
Prince Harry and Six Others Ordered to Pay £9.5 Million After High Court Defeat
Petrol Bombs Set Luxury Cars Alight Outside Birmingham Wedding as Police Hunt Three Men
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Prince Harry and Co-Claimants Ordered to Pay £9.5 Million Toward Daily Mail Publisher’s Legal Costs
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Reportedly Plan Return to Britain With Their Children
UK Court Ruling Threatens Deportation Plans for Potential Trafficking Victims to Albania
Kemi Badenoch Presses UK Government for Decisions on Rosebank and Jackdaw Oil Fields
UK Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Calls for Ban on Goods from Occupied West Bank
Andy Burnham Government to Place Civil Servants Directly in English Mayoral Offices
Met Office Warns Major El Niño Could Bring Stormier, Wetter Autumn to UK
UK Economy Gains Unexpected Momentum Ahead of Andy Burnham Government’s First Budget
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Royal Navy to Accelerate DragonFire Laser Deployment Against Growing Drone Threat
Northern Ireland Approves Five Hundred Million Pound Belfast Harbour Expansion
Great British Railways Takes Full Control of Avanti West Coast as Rail Nationalisation Reaches Final Stage
UK AI Safety Institute Calls for Mandatory Security Audits of Advanced AI Models
Scotland Secures Three Billion Pounds for Floating Offshore Wind Hub in Aberdeen
Government Overrides Local Councils to Approve Green Belt Housing Across Southern England
UK and EU Move Toward Mutual Recognition of Food Standards to Ease Cross-Channel Trade
Government Plans Multibillion-Pound Private Healthcare Expansion to Cut NHS Surgical Backlogs
Bank of England Signals Faster Rate Cuts as Inflation Falls Below the Two Percent Target
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
Moderna Shares Surge After Positive Personalized Skin Cancer Trial Results
UK Markets Watch US National Debt Surpass Forty Trillion Dollars
UK Broadcasters Urge Government to Invest in Digital Participation and Broadband
CVC Capital Partners and Standard Life Launch Two Billion Pound Pension Risk Transfer Venture
UK Private Sector Productivity Growth Accelerates in Second Quarter
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband Condemns Israeli E1 Settlement Tender
UK Watchdog Investigates Trainline, Virgin Atlantic and RED Driving School Over Hidden Fees
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Plan Move to Private Home Outside London
UK Retail Sentiment Improves as Summer Spending Boosts Consumer Confidence
UK Aid Cuts Draw Warnings From Charities Over Humanitarian Consequences
UK Financial Conduct Authority Issues Guidance for Motor Finance Redress Scheme
UK Met Office Launches Aviation Programme to Reduce Climate Impact of Persistent Contrails
Former UK Civil Service Chief Received Record 500,000 Pound Severance Payment
West Midlands to Bring Bus Network Under Public Franchising Model
UK Government Drops Plan to Relax Affordable Housing Requirements After Backlash
×