Perpetrator
| Thomas Watt Hamilton | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1952-05-10)10 May 1952 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died | 13 March 1996(1996-03-13) (aged 43) Dunblane |
| Conviction status | Dead |
| Occupation | Former shopkeeper |
| Parents | Thomas Watt and Agnes Graham Hamilton |
There were complaints to police regarding Hamilton's behaviour towards the young boys who attended the youth clubs he directed. Complaints had been made of him having taken photographs of semi-naked boys without parental consent.
Hamilton had been a Scout leader with the 4th/6th Stirling and 24th Stirlingshire troops of the Scout Association. Several complaints were made about his leadership, including two occasions when Scouts were forced to sleep with Hamilton in his van during hill-walking expeditions. Hamilton's Scout Warrant was withdrawn on 13 May 1974, with the County Commissioner stating that he was "suspicious of his moral intentions towards boys".
He claimed in letters that rumours about him led to the failure of his shop business in 1993, and in the last months of his life he complained again that his attempts to organise a boys' club were subject to persecution by local police and the scout movement. Among those to whom he complained were the Queen and the local Member of Parliament, Michael Forsyth. In the 1980s, another MP, George Robertson, who lived in Dunblane, had complained to Forsyth about Hamilton's local boys' club, which his son had attended. On the day following the massacre, Robertson spoke of having argued with Hamilton "in my own home".
On 19 March 1996, six days after the massacre, the body of Thomas Hamilton was cremated in a private ceremony.
Read more about this topic: Thomas Hamilton (Dunblane Massacre)
Famous quotes containing the word perpetrator:
“But ice-crunching and loud gum-chewing, together with drumming on tables, and whistling the same tune seventy times in succession, because they indicate an indifference on the part of the perpetrator to the rest of the world in general, are not only registered on the delicate surfaces of the brain but eat little holes in it until it finally collapses or blows up.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)