Psychopath

The Case of Patrick MacKay

Tim Clark, John Penycate

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781032367026
• eBook ISBN: 9781000775617
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Criminology
• Index: Social Sciences

First published in 1976, Psychopath is a study of Patrick Mackay who, in 1974 – with a string of muggings and killings behind him – was on trial for murder and was imprisoned in November 1975. John Penycate and Tim Clark – responsible for the controversial BBC Panorama programme on Patrick Mackay's case – here take their investigation further and raise the important question of how the various responsible agencies which came into contact with him failed to see the danger and prevent these needless killings. Mackay passed through five mental institutions as well as approved schools, remand centres and homes. Twice he had been released from Moss Side Special Hospital – the North of England's equivalent to Broadmoor – against the advice of his doctors. Penycate and Clark show that the signs were there for all to see. They give a detailed account of Patrick Mackay's deterioration, from his turbulent childhood, through numerous suicide attempts, acts of violence and spells in mental and penal institutions, to his becoming London's most notorious 'mugger' and a multiple killer, culminating in the final maniacal axing of his friend Father Crean, illustrated here with Mackay's own words. This book will be of interest to students of criminology, psychology, penology, government, and media.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• 1 ‘I feel terrible about what happened’
• 2 ‘My father used to get violently drunk’
• 3 ‘Manipulated like a ruddy puppet on a string’
• 4 ‘In Moss Side I was classified as a psychopath’
• 5 ‘The sudden step to the outside community’
• 6 ‘She was not a bad soul’
• 7 ‘These murders were so solemn’
• 8 ‘Incapable of restraining himself’
• 9 ‘Killings that I cannot myself remember’
• 10 ‘I shan’t shed a tear’