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Criminologist David Wilson examines Scotland鈥檚 dark history with spree and mass killings and tries to find motives behind these truly heinous and unprovoked attacks.

Professor David Wilson, the UK鈥檚 leading criminologist, and his guests try to comprehend what could motivate a person to go on a spree or mass killing.

David travels to the notorious Carstairs State Hospital in South Lanarkshire to investigate one of Scotland鈥檚 worst spree killings. The atrocity occurred on one cold November night in 1976, leaving three people dead and at least three others injured. David tracks the movements of the two killers, Robert Mone and Thomas McCulloch, from their brutal escape from the hospital to the night-long manhunt across the border.

In the studio, David speaks with former senior police officer Graeme Pearson, who was given the task of escorting Robert Mone back to Scotland. Graeme gives his first-hand account of being called onto the scene and the fear of having to chase these deranged killers. He recounts what it was like to come face to face with the cold-hearted killer and how his conversations with Mone that night showed no remorse for his callous actions.

Graeme even tried to get to the bottom of what Mone鈥檚 motives were for the night鈥檚 events, and his answer is truly shocking.

David鈥檚 next guest is forensic clinical psychologist David Cooke, who speaks about his specialist knowledge of one of Scotland鈥檚 worst mass killings, the Dunblane Massacre. David Cooke was called in to examine Thomas Hamilton after the event for the Cullen Inquiry. He speaks to David about his examination of Hamilton鈥檚 life and how he uncovered clear signs of paedophilia and other troubling issues in Hamilton鈥檚 past. He also talks about the personality traits of a mass killer and which of these Hamilton displayed prior to the shooting.

David鈥檚 final guest is Dr Mick North, whose daughter Sophie was tragically killed during the shooting at Dunblane Primary School. He speaks about his own feelings towards Hamilton and how we need to stop dehumanizing these killers. He also highlights his journey campaigning for gun control in the UK and how that activism moved from the UK to America. He chats about the current state of America and their continued issue with gun violence and how he feels it is an impossible situation to fix.

28 minutes

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter David Wilson
Executive Producer Harry Bell

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