Robert Sartin

Case information

Robert Sartin was found to be unfit to stand trial and was being held in Moss Side Special Hospital, Liverpool, when Newcastle Crown Court was convened on 30 April 1990.

Sartin was 22 years old and had schizophrenia, according to evidence given to the jury by a Home Office psychiatrist. The jury decided that he was unfit to plead.

Timeline

• 30 April 1989 — A shotgun rampage occurred in Monkseaton, Tyne and Wear, in which one person was killed and fourteen others were injured.
• 30 April 1990 — Newcastle Crown Court was convened while Sartin was being held in Moss Side Special Hospital, Liverpool.

The offence

On a quiet Sunday morning in Monkseaton, Tyne and Wear, at about just before noon on 30 April 1989, a man clad in black and carrying a shotgun approached Kenneth Mackintosh as he delivered church leaflets to the homes in Windsor Road.

The gunman pointed the gun at Kenneth Mackintosh and fired both barrels. As Kenneth Mackintosh lay wounded and pleading for mercy, the gunman reloaded and told him: “No, it is your day to die.” The gunman then fired both barrels into the chest of the victim from point-blank range.

Judith Rhodes was driving nearby on Pykerley Road. She noticed a figure dressed entirely in black and then noticed a double-barrelled shotgun. The first shot shattered the windscreen while the second shot struck her hand. The gunman walked calmly away.

Lorraine Noble and William Roberts were chatting over the garden gate when the gunman approached. William Roberts recognised the shotgun being raised and threw himself on the ground. The gun went off and Lorraine Noble fell seriously injured.

Robert Wilson looked out of his front door after hearing the sound of gunfire and was met by a hail of pellets that struck him in the left side of his body and head.

Brian Thomas was cycling along Pykerley Road when the discharge from both barrels blew him from his bicycle. He managed to drag himself to safety.

Robert Burgon, along with his wife Jean and daughter Nicola, had to steer the car around Brian Thomas’s abandoned bicycle. As they did so, Sartin opened fire on them, seriously injuring Robert and Jean.

A car following, driven by Ernest Carter, was hit and drove out of control into a wall.

At the same time Jean Miller, who was tending her garden, was hit in the stomach by another volley of fire.

Vera Burrows had heard the commotion and came to find out the cause. She asked Sartin, “What the hell is going on?” Sartin replied, “It’s me,” and said, “I’m killing people. I’m going to kill you.” He aimed at Vera Burrows, then, lowering the gun, said: “Oh, you are too old.” and walked away.

Sartin also attacked people while driving and when he was in the street, and he shot at a number of individuals and vehicles during the spree.

Arrest

PC Danny Herman arrested Robert Sartin as he sat quietly in his car in a car park.

Sartin had worked at the Department of Social Security in Blythe.

Trial and mental health

Sartin was held in Moss Side Special Hospital, Liverpool, when Newcastle Crown Court was convened on Monday 30 April 1990.

After hearing evidence from a Home Office psychiatrist on Sartin’s schizophrenia, the jury decided that he was unfit to plead.

Other details

A second account described Sartin as taking a gun from his parents’ home at around 11.40am on April 30, 1989, and then driving to Pykerly Road where he opened fire on Judith Rhodes, a 43-year-old. It also described further injuries and shootings involving Lorraine Noble, Kenneth Mackintosh, Robert Wilson, and other victims during the same spree.

That account also included the following quoted statements:

• Kenneth Mackintosh told the gunman he pleaded for help, and the gunman responded: “No. it is your day to die.”
• Vera Burrows asked: “What the hell is going on?”
• Sartin said: “It’s me. I am killing people. I am going to kill you.”
• Sartin said: “Oh, you are old, I won’t kill you.”

In the same account, another victim’s response to the shooting was quoted:

• Brian Thoms shouted: “Don’t be so bloody stupid.”

Sartin was described as having “never faced trial.” His parents and brother had left the region and were understood to have changed their names.