William McAnamee

Case record: William McAnamee

Background

William McAnamee was 32 when he was sentenced to a second life sentence in October 2001. He was from Londonderry and had been in an English state mental hospital for killing a man in his London flat.

During police interviews, McAnamee referred to seeing a wolf when he looked in the mirror.

His defence counsel, Edward Targowski QC, said McNamee had suffered violent psychological problems as a result of violent abuse at the hands of his father when he was young.

The prosecution described McNamee as "an extremely dangerous individual and that danger undoubtedly arises from his personality disorder which is untreatable".

People

• William McAnamee — defendant
• Tracy Horner — victim (strangled; described as a deaf mute girl)
• John Dysart — victim (killed; described as a Londoner)
• Edward Targowski QC — defence counsel for McNamee
• Lord Wheatley — judge at the High Court in Glasgow
• Judge Neil Denison — judge at the Old Bailey in London
• Brian Everett — friend; McAnamee stayed with him after the killing of John Dysart
• Ms Horner — victim (Tracy Horner; referenced in McAnamee’s remarks)
• Mr Dysart — victim (John Dysart; referenced in McAnamee’s remarks)
• Tracy Horner — victim and girlfriend / fellow Big Issue seller (as set out in the case account)
• Big Issue office / furniture shop police context — places mentioned in the account

The offence

McAnamee killed two people in four days.

In the High Court in Glasgow, the court heard that he was convicted of strangling deaf mute girl Tracy Horner in the flat they shared in Gallowgate, Glasgow, between 29 July and 1 August 1998.

McAnamee also confessed to killing Londoner John Dysart in his flat at Vauxhall Bridge Road and strangling his girlfriend and fellow Big Issue seller, Tracy Horner, four days earlier in Glasgow.

In the earlier London case, the Old Bailey heard that McAnamee killed John Dysart, 42, by bludgeoning him to death with a frying pan. McAnamee had met Mr Dysart after he fled from Scotland. On the night of the killing, he stayed with a friend, Brian Everett.

Immediately after killing Mr Dysart, he attacked Mr Everett with a knife.

Investigation

During the trial in Glasgow, the court was told that McNamee was arrested while acting suspiciously outside a furniture shop in London.

After being taken into custody, he told police that he had been thinking about killing two members of staff in the shop with a hammer.

He also confessed to killing John Dysart in his flat and strangling Tracy Horner four days earlier in Glasgow.

McAnamee told police: "I am glad you caught me. I don't know what I would have done."

He also said he had no reason for killing either Ms Horner or Mr Dysart, adding: "There's nothing I can do to control what I am doing".

In the London interviews, McAnamee said: "There is something seriously wrong with me, I nearly killed a girl in Derry," and "I could have carried on killing easily."

He referred to seeing a wolf when he looked in the mirror.

When arrested, he said he had been planning to kill two other people.

A wallet found on his person belonged to the dead man.

Arrest

McAnamee was arrested 10 days after the killing of John Dysart when a police officer recognised him.

At the time of his arrest in London, he was acting suspiciously outside a furniture shop.

Trial

Glasgow High Court

At the High Court in Glasgow, McAnamee was convicted of strangling Tracy Horner in the flat they shared in Gallowgate, Glasgow, between 29 July and 1 August 1998.

The source account states that McNamee had originally been charged with murder, but the Crown accepted his plea of guilty to the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

During sentencing in Glasgow, Lord Wheatley told McNamee: "The only apparent motive for committing this offence was to gratify your need to kill a defenceless and particularly vulnerable young woman."

The judge said the parole board would have to go to extraordinary lengths to satisfy themselves that there was no prospect of him re-offending before giving any consideration to early release.

McNamee received a second life sentence in October 2001.

London Old Bailey

In London, McAnamee was convicted at the Old Bailey on a manslaughter charge but received a life sentence because of the "two strikes and you're out" law.

The Old Bailey heard he had been planning to kill two other people. The Old Bailey heard that he pleaded in court that he suffered from a personality disorder.

Judge Neil Denison branded McAnamee "an exceptionally dangerous man".

McAnamee pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Sentencing

London sentence: life imprisonment (July 1999)

McAnamee was sentenced to life imprisonment in July 1999.

Judge Neil Denison referred to McAnamee's personality disorder and branded him "an exceptionally dangerous man".

The English court ordered that he be detained for at least six years and nine months before being considered for parole.

Glasgow sentence: second life sentence (October 2001)

At the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Wheatley sentenced McAnamee to a second life term.

Lord Wheatley ordered that McNamee should serve a minimum of 10 years before being considered for parole.

Other details

McAnamee had a record for serious crimes of violence.

• In 1990 he was jailed for five years at Leeds Crown Court for assault, arson, and a drug offence.
• Four years later he was jailed again for five years in Londonderry for rape.

In 1998, McAnamee moved to Scotland from Ireland and met Ms Horner while he waited for an interview in the Glasgow Big Issue office. One week later he strangled her in a flat they both shared in the city's Gallowgate area.

Prior to the trial in Glasgow, he had been in Broadmoor Hospital in England after being jailed for life for the killing of Mr Dysart.

The account also says: "It is understood that the Procurator Fiscal in Scotland is pursuing McAnamee for the killing of his teenaged girlfriend in August last year."

McAnamee was 30 at the time of the July 5, 1999 sentence account and 32 at the time of the October 25, 2001 second life sentence account.