Dunblane massacre
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The Dunblane massacre was a multiple murder-suicide which occurred at the primary school in the town of Dunblane, Scotland on 13 March 1996. It remains the deadliest attack on children in United Kingdom history. Sixteen children and one adult were killed, in addition to the attacker.
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[edit] Course of events
On Wednesday 13 March 1996, unemployed former shopkeeper Thomas Hamilton walked into the school armed with two 9mm Browning HP pistols and two Smith and Wesson .357 revolvers. He was carrying 743 cartridges.
After gaining entry to the school, Hamilton made his way to the gym hall and opened fire on a class of 5-6 year olds, killing or wounding every person present bar one pupil. Fifteen children and a teacher (Mrs. Gwen Mayor) died at the scene. He then went out the emergency exit into the playground outside a mobile classroom next to the gym hall and fired a number of shots into the classroom. The teacher had previously realized that something was wrong and told the children to hide under the tables. A number of bullet holes were found in the children's chairs leading to speculation that had the teacher not told them to hide, there might have been a lot more fatalities. He also fired at a group of children walking in a corridor, injuring one teacher. Hamilton went back into the gym and fired one shot with one of his two revolvers pointing upwards into his mouth, killing himself instantly. A further eleven children and three adults were rushed to the hospital as soon as the emergency services arrived; however, one of these children was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
[edit] List of fatalities
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A memorial service conducted by James Whyte was held on October 9, 1996.
[edit] The aftermath
Hamilton's exact motives are unknown, but it is known that there were complaints to police of his suspicious behaviour towards boys who attended the youth clubs he ran. He was apparently prone to violence, and there were suspicions his interest in boys was less than healthy, with more than one complaint about photographs of boys being taken without the parents' consent. He claimed in letters that rumours about him led to the collapse of his shop business in 1993, and in the last months of his life he complained again that his attempts to set up a boys' club were subject to persecution by the police and the scout movement. Among those he complained to were local MP Michael Forsyth and the Queen. In the 1980s another MP George Robertson, who lived in Dunblane, had complained to Michael Forsyth about Hamilton's local boys club, which his son had attended. There has been unfounded speculation about the relationship between Thomas Hamilton and George Robertson who launched a landmark 'e-libel' action against the Sunday Herald in 2003 after comments made on the newspaper's message board. He won an apology and damages.
[edit] Cultural impact
As the law stood at the time, the police were unable to revoke Hamilton's firearms certificate (gun license) because there were no substantiated grounds to do so. Although one Central Scotland Police officer had recommended (in a lengthy report on Hamilton) that revoking his firearms certificate should be considered, this was overruled as the Deputy Chief Constable considered that he would be able to appeal successfully. The Deputy Chief Constable resigned at the same time as Lord Cullen's report into the massacre was published.
The Cullen Inquiry recommended tighter control of handgun ownership as well as other changes in school security and vetting of people working with children under 18. However because the Hungerford massacre also involved a legal gun owner killing with his legally held guns public feeling had turned against private gun ownership and allowed a much more restrictive ban on handguns to pass.
A month later, Martin Bryant killed 35 people in the Port Arthur Massacre in Tasmania, Australia. The chief defence psychiatrist in the case has revealed that the Dunblane massacre, and in particular the early treatment of Thomas Hamilton, was the trigger in Bryant's mind for the Port Arthur massacre.[1]
[edit] Media
The Dunblane massacre reemerged in headlines after Andy Murray, who was an 8 year old pupil who attended the school during the time of the shooting, won the U.S. open junior tennis crown in 2004.<ref>bbc 3650264</ref> There have been numerous articles referencing Andy’s exposure to the Dunblane massacre and statements that Andy survived the Dunblane massacre after hiding in the headmaster’s office during the terror<ref>The scotsman</ref>. However as one reviewer of Murray's unofficial biography points out, Andy and his family are unwilling to speak publicly about the incident, leaving speculation to the level of exposure and effect the tragedy had on Andy.<ref>the observer</ref> Andy has recently made public statements about the incident, saying he attended one of Thomas Hamilton's boys' clubs and didn’t realize how difficult a time the town had following the massacre, adding that the town has recovered well and moved on.<ref>bbc news</ref>
[edit] Music
With the consent of Bob Dylan, a Dunblane musician named Ted Christopher wrote a new verse for Knockin' On Heaven's Door in memory of the Dunblane school children and their teacher. The recording of the revised version of the song, which included brothers and sisters of the victims singing chorus and Mark Knopfler on guitar, was released on December 9, 1996 in the UK, and reached number 1. The proceeds went to charities for children.
The Living End have a song on their self-titled album about the Dunblane massacre. It is called "Monday". Singer/Guitarist/Songwriter Chris Cheney said, "It was such a senseless act. I just felt compelled to write a song about it." Also, the UK band History of Guns got their name from one of their earliest songs, inspired by the Dunblane shootings.
On their 1997 album 'Quintessentials', English punk band UK Subs feature a song simply titled "Dunblane". Singer-Songwriter Charlie Harper laments in the chorus: "After Dunblane, how can you hold a gun and say you're innocent?"
Pipe Major Robert Mathieson of Shotts and Dykehead also composed a slow air for the Highland Bagpipes in memoriam of the event, entitled "The Bells of Dunblane."
James MacMillan wrote a tribute piece, "A Child's Prayer", using words 'remembered by the composer from childhood'. It was first performed in Westminster Abbey in July 1996 and recorded on the album 'ikon' by The Sixteen conducted by Harry Christophers in 2005.
Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) sang "The Little Ones" at the Voices for Darfur gala performance at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in December 2004, a song which he said he wrote for the children of Dunblane and Bosnia.
Eric Bogle, a Scotsman who has lived for many years in Australia, wrote and recorded "One Small Star" as an attempt to bring a small measure of comfort to those left struggling to cope with the grief of losing their sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, grandchildren, friends, in such a horrific manner.
[edit] Books
Two books, Dunblane: Our Year of Tears by Peter Samson and Alan Crow (Mainstream, 1997) and Dunblane: Never Forget by Mick North (Mainstream, 2000) both give accounts of the massacre from the perspective of those most directly affected. Another book, Dunblane Unburied by Sandra Uttley (Book Publishing World 2006), whose publication was funded by a shooters' organisation, the Sportsman's Association[citation needed], examines Hamilton's relationship with members of Central Scotland Police and presents a disturbing alternative account to the events leading up to the massacre. Uttley alleges a major high level cover-up and calls for a new Public Inquiry to establish the truth.
[edit] Television
On the Sunday following the shootings the morning service from Dunblane Cathedral, conducted by Rev. Colin MacIntosh, was broadcast live by the BBC. The BBC also had live transmission of the Memorial Service on October 9 1996, also held at Dunblane Cathedral.
A documentary 'Dunblane: Remembering our Children' (produced by Chameleon Television), which featured many of the parents of the children who had been killed, was broadcast by ITV at the time of the first anniversary.
At the time of the Tenth Anniversary in March 2006 two documentaries were broadcast. Channel 5 screened 'Dunblane - a decade on' (made by Hanrahan Media) and BBC Scotland showed 'Remembering Dunblane' (made by iwcmedia).
Episode 1954 of Australian soap opera Home And Away, in which the estranged father of a Year 7 student of Summer Bay High brought a rifle into the school and held headmaster Donald Fisher hostage all afternoon and overnight (throughout the episode), was not shown at all in the UK. ITV, which was notorious for its heavy-handed censorship of Home And Away, also edited out any other references to the siege in other episodes.
[edit] Flowers
At least three flowers have been named after victims of the shootings. Two roses, developed by Crockers of Aberdeen, were named "Gwen Mayor" and "Innocence" in memory of the teacher and the children. A variety of snowdrop, discovered ten years earlier in the garden of a house close to Dunblane Primary School, has been named after Sophie North.
[edit] Memorials
Dunblane Primary School gymnasium was demolished shortly afterwards and replaced by a small garden: a simple plaque bears the names of the victims.
A Memorial Garden was created at the town's cemetery, where most of those who were killed are buried or interred. The central feature of the Garden is a fountain designed by Maggie Howarth. The Garden was dedicated at a ceremony on 14 March 1998.
Stained glass windows in memory of the victims were placed in three local churches, St Blane's and the Church of the Holy Family in Dunblane and the nearby Lecropt Kirk. A Clashach standing stone was later erected in Dunblane Cathedral.
Gardens and trees were planted, and cairns built at various locations, especially schools, throughout the UK in remembrance of the children and their teacher.
The National Association of Primary Education commission a wooden sculpture, 'Flame for Dunblane', created by Walter Bailey, which was placed in the National Forest, England.
The Dunblane Youth and Community Centre, funded by donations made after the shootings, was opened in September 2004.
[edit] Political impact
Mrs. Ann Pearson, a friend of some of the bereaved families, founded a very widely supported campaign, named the Snowdrop Petition (because March is snowdrop time in Scotland), which gained 705,000 signatures in support, and was successful in pressing Parliament, and the then-current Conservative government into introducing a ban on all cartridge ammunition handguns with the exception of .22 calibre single-shot weapons. The families of the victims were active in the lobbying campaign as was the Gun Control Network, also set up in the aftermath of the shootings, and whose members included parents of victims at Dunblane and of the Hungerford Massacre. The campaign was also supported by a number of newspapers, including the Sunday Mail, a Scottish tabloid whose own petition to ban handguns had raised 428,279 signatures within five weeks of the massacre.
Following the 1997 General Election, the Labour government of Tony Blair introduced the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997, banning the remaining .22 cartridge handguns, and leaving only muzzle-loading and historic handguns legal, as well as certain sporting handguns (e.g. "Long-Arms") that fall outside the Home Office Definition of a "Handgun" due to their dimensions.
[edit] Conspiracy theories
Since the massacre, questions have been raised about the actions of Central Scotland Police in the case, and numerous Internet conspiracy theories have arisen regarding alleged involvement by Freemasonry, George Robertson, MI6, the supporters of the Snowdrop Petition and Northern Ireland terrorist organisations. These were, to some extent, fuelled by the 100-year restriction on publication of parts of the Cullen Inquiry into the massacre. The partial lifting of these restrictions on 3 October 2005 quelled some of the more outlandish theories. One of the victim's parents, who read the full version of all the documents before they were released, concluded there was no evidence for any conspiracy[2]. Nevertheless Dunblane conspiracy sites still persist on the web.
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
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[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The final report of The Cullen Inquiry
- The transcript of the 1996 Cullen Inquiry into the Dunblane Massacre
- Firearms (Amendment) Act, 1997 - Prohibition of weapons and ammunition and control of small-calibre pistols
- Firearms (Amendment) (No 2) Act, 1997 - prohibition of small calibre pistols
- After Dunblane Gun Control in the UK 1996-2001 (PDF)
- BBC Order lifted on Dunblane papers
- Dunblane papers released
- A Timeline of the Massacre
- A call for a new Public Inquiry
- Extensive description of the Dunblane massacre from CourtTV
- Description by the Guardianfr:Massacre de Dunblane
