Manuel: Bright, good family and ‘not insane’, said psychologist 12 JUL 2008 UPDATED  1 JUL 2012

MANUEL was examined on many occasions and there was never any suggestion that he was insane.

Prison medical reports after his arrest described him as “not feeble-minded” and “above average intelligence” and fit to plead.

In a psychologist’s report compiled by Glasgow University, expert Thomas Rodger in February 1958 he told how Manuel spoke of his family background and praised his upbringing.

The report reads: “He states that his father and mother have always been good to him and until he was 14 he was never separated from them. They were respectable people who, in his opinion, gave him adequate care. The explanation of his behaviour, he says, rests in the fact that he is a dishonest person and that some people are made that way.” Rodger added: “I was surprised by the fact that a man facing such a charge was remarkably relaxed and at ease and, at times, even jovial. I pointed this out to him but his answer to this was that while it might seem to an outsider that he was in a difficult position, he had no doubt he would vindicate himself without any trouble when it came to the trial. He seemed to me to be sane and showed no abnormality of mind amounting to or bordering on insanity.”

The following month, February 1958, a medical report by neurologist Dr John Gaynor, revealed that during an air raid towards the end of the Second World War, Manuel had been struck by a piece of steel from a blast bomb and the shrapnel has entered his skull at the right forehead.

He also suffered a serious electric shock in Borstal.

He had no memory of that day and had suffered occasional memory losses and black-outs since. A psychiatric report by Hunter Gillies of Glasgow University in March 1958 found Manuel showed “no signs of mental disease”.

Gillies added: “In my opinion, the accused man is sane and fit to plead. I find no evidence his responsibility is diminished by any disease of the mind.”

Dr Angus MacNiven filed another report later in March after five meetings with Manuel and his father Samuel, mother Bridget and sister Teresa. Samuel said his son was a “model boy in the house” but “rather difficult to discipline”. Bridget said he was “full of mischief” and while he was affectionate to his parents she never felt she had his complete confidence. Manuel never discussed his criminal background with his mum, she said, and she also described him as “hard core somewhere”.

His sister Teresa, a certified mental nurse, had a clear opinion. The report states: “She had always thought the accused was a psychopath. When I asked her why, she said he was indifferent to other people’s opinions.”

She once went to the procurator fiscal when he was detained and asked that he should be certified insane.

Manuel once threatened her with a bread knife during an row.

The report goes on: “Two nights before his arrest, the accused’s home was being kept under surveillance by the police. She said the accused appeared to be in a state of frenzy and he took hold of a poker and said he was going to assault the police.” The doctor added: “The accused is quick and alert and appears to have a remarkable memory and gives what appears to be a lucid and connected narrative of events leading to his arrest. He never hesitates in his speech and is never at a loss to remember a detail. He tells a story in a remarkably detached manner never showing any emotion and speaking as if the experiences were describing were someone else’s and not his own.”

Manuel also claimed police were keen to pin the Lanarkshire murders on him as he had successfully defended himself against an assault allegation in 1955.

The report states Manuel said: “They are out to destroy me – and I am out to destroy them.”

The doctor adds: “My own opinion is that the accused does come within the category of a psychopath. My opinion is that the accused is sane and fit to plead.”

In June 1958, medical staff at Barlinnie prison reported on Manuel.

The prison governor told them Manuel had “taken the verdict and sentence with equanimity and remained self assured and jaunty”.

But by Friday June 20 there was a major change. Manuel appeared to be feigning madness by acting strangely and adopting peculiar habits.

Warders noticed his “madness” got worse when senior figures were around.

Experts decided his behaviour was a “hysterical reaction” to his predicament.

In a second report on June 30 experts agreed Manuel’s behaviour was “consciously motivated” and “not a manifestation of insanity”.

That final report cleared the way for the execution.

‘His sister Teresa, a certified mental nurse, always thought he was a psychopath because he was indifferent to other people’s opinions’

A MacNIVEN FRSE, FRCPED, FRCPGLAS, FRCPSYCH, DPM

Dr A MacNiven, formerly physician superintendent of Gartnavel Royal Hospital and consultant psychiatrist to the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, died on 2 January aged 83. Angus MacNiven, the son of a farmer on Mull, was educated at Oban, Dumfries, and Glasgow before going on to Glasgow University, where he graduated MB, ChB in 1923. After house officer posts in the Western Infirmary he specialised in psychiatry, gaining experience with Adolf Meyer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and becoming senior assistant medical officer at Cardiff City Mental Hospital. He was deputy physician superintendent of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital from 1927 until 1932. In that year he became  physician superintendent of Gartnavel Royal Hospital and consultant psychiatrist to the Western Infirmary in Glasgow, and he continued in those high and demanding offices for 33 years. He was lecturer in psychiatry at the University of Glasgow. Angus MacNiven was proud of his Hebridean origins and that Gaelic was his first language. Many years ago he commenced in English a serious lecture to a Celtic society with the words, “I speak to you in what for me is a foreign tongue.” He was known as the man who in bowler hat rode his horse in the grounds of Gartnavel Hospital, bearing a Gargantuan umbrella and perusing the papers of the day. When taxed with this by the sceptical he would most logically reply, “Would you not do the same if your horse needs exercise, it’s raining, and you have to read masses of paper ?” In his dealings with patients and relatives and in clinical teaching he was superb. His technique was individual but invariably the epitome of kindness and consideration. He combined in his own unique, courteous, and modest way exceptional intellectual gifts and warmth of personality. Dr MacNiven served in high office both on the local regional board and in the Royal Medico-Psychological Association, being chairman in Scotland and president for Great Britain and Ireland from 1959 to 1960. He was made a foundation fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 1971 and was an honorary fellow of the college. Dr MacNiven believed deeply that if someone was really ill room should always be made for him in hospital. He held the view that overcrowding never really kept anyone from getting well who would do so. On the other hand, he held that keeping a very ill person wrongly out of hospital could upset a whole family as well as endangering the life of the patient and the lives of others. He was sympathetic to all points of view provided they were within reason, sincerely held, and not detrimental to the interests of the patient. He was a man never to be underestimated in his intellectual range, for his erudition extended far beyond medicine to literature, history, and the arts. His whimsical imaginative humour and innate modesty made him popular with all ages. Angus MacNiven retired to his native Mull, where it was far from unknown for him to do milk and paper rounds on his motor bicycle to help out those whom he described as “poor old souls.” Thus in his latter years, which were destined to be clouded by lingering illness and discomfort, his main concern was, as always, for others. He maintained an interest in many things especially gardening and Gaelic history. His sister Mary predeceased him two years ago.-MMW.

Univercity of Glasgow

Material relating to Angus MacNiven

Angus MacNiven fl.1965
Dr., Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow.

MS Laing – Papers of Ronald David Laing
Papers of Ronald David Laing.