The Case of Mary Bell by Gitta Sereny

Author:Gitta Sereny [Gitta Sereny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House
Published: 1995-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

I looked out the window one night

Oh what a beautiful sight—

There was a shrill call, it was

from the wall. Help! Help! Please

let me out a squicky voice

began to shout. I’ve ate an

hamburger. But you’ll commite

Murder if you don’t let me

out.

Tuesday, 17 December was a cold, bleak day in Newcastle. The two girls, their parents and relatives, looked pale and strained. And even Betty Bell was quiet.

Dr. David Westbury had sat in the office of the Clerk of Assize that morning and almost all of the previous day, telephoning mental hospitals all over England in an effort to find somewhere Mary could be sent, if she was convicted. “Nobody would say yes,” he said. “At one moment I wasn’t at all sure that I wouldn’t be taking her home with me; it was incredible, quite incredible.”

It wasn’t only the hospitals who felt they didn’t have suitable provisions or adequate security arrangements to contain this child. The Remand Centre, which Children’s Officer Brian Roycroft selected as best suited to shelter her provisionally after the trial, also said it could not have her. And it was only after barrister Peter Robinson, the Clerk of Assize,4 was asked by the Children’s Department and the police to speak to the Remand Centre on the legal position, that preparations for her care immediately subsequent to the trial, if she was convicted, could be begun. It was not deemed necessary to make any similar inquiries for Norma Bell.

The Jury retired at 10:40 and returned at 2:15 P.M. The room was utterly silent. Norma leaned forward, her mouth as usual a little open. Mary sat straight as a rod, one finger as usual in her mouth.

The Clerk of Assize rose from his seat just below the Judge’s dais. “Members of the Jury . . . are you all agreed upon your verdict?”

“We are.”

“On the first count of this indictment, do you find Norma Bell guilty or not guilty of the murder of Martin Brown?”

“Not guilty.”

“Do you find her guilty or not guilty of Manslaughter?”

“Not guilty.”

Norma began to smile and excitedly turned around to her parents. Her father laid his hand on her head and gently turned her back to face the Judge and Jury.

“Do you find Mary Flora Bell guilty or not guilty of the murder of Martin Brown?”

“Guilty of Manslaughter,” said the Foreman, his next words hard to hear because of Betty Bell’s immediate loud sobs, “because of diminished responsibility.”

The Judge interrupted. “That is not guilty of Murder?” He emphasized the “Not” and “Murder.” “But guilty of Manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility?”

“Yes, sir.”

“On the second count of the indictment,” asked Peter Robinson, “do you find Norma Bell guilty or not guilty of the murder of Brian Howe?”

“Not guilty.”

“Do you find her guilty or not guilty of Manslaughter?”

“Not guilty,” the Foreman said, and this time Norma’s father smiled, her mother began to cry, but with the discipline and good manners everyone had noticed throughout the trial, both of them shook their heads reprovingly when Norma turned to look at them and indicated for her to sit still.

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