Patrick Mackay had killed at least eleven people in his short life, including a four year old child, a nanny, an elderly priest and an 89 year old woman.
Today, the killer has been in prison for forty four years. That makes him the longest serving inmate currently serving time in a British jail. He is slightly ahead of the notorious Michael Peters. While, that is not a name which may be familiar to all true crime aficionados, his alternative identity – Charles Bronson – will. (Peters even spent a spell known as Charles Salvador in recognition of the artist, Salvador Dali, whose work he admired). Other long servers include, until he died recently, Moors murderer Ian Brady, and Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.
But given that Mackay killed many more people than either Brady or Bronson – in fact he is one of Britain's most prolific serial killers – how it is possible that he is not better known?