Mary Bell (The Tyneside Strangler)

Mary Bell is a British woman who, as a child, strangled to death two little boys in Scotswood, an inner-city suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne. She was convicted in December 1968 of the manslaughter of the two boys, Martin Brown (aged four) and Brian Howe (aged three). Bell was 11 when she was convicted for killing Brown and Howe. She was sentenced to 12 years and was released in 1980 at the age of 23

I'm not an expert on this case but since you brought it up, I want to say that people's hatred of this woman to this day disgusts and puzzles me. It was terribly tragic and I know the relatives of the children killed will never get over it, but this girl was a 10 year old, mentally sick, abused child when she did those terrible things.It doesn't excuse what she did but those are the facts.As far as I have known she has caused no trouble since getting out and I think she deserved to get another chance to make a life.

True. She was very mentally unstable at the time. She deserves a second chance to make things right.

PaintItBlack wrote:

I'm not an expert on this case but since you brought it up, I want to say that people's hatred of this woman  to this day disgusts and puzzles me. It was terribly tragic and I know the relatives of the children killed will never get over it, but this girl was a 10 year old, mentally sick, abused child when she did those terrible things.It doesn't excuse what she did but those are the facts.As far as I have known she has caused no trouble since getting out and I think she deserved to get another chance to make a life.

After she was released from prison, she changed her name and remains anonymous to this day.

Haven't people tried to find her and out her though? I thought I heard that somewhere.

819234 wrote:

PaintItBlack wrote:

I'm not an expert on this case but since you brought it up, I want to say that people's hatred of this woman  to this day disgusts and puzzles me. It was terribly tragic and I know the relatives of the children killed will never get over it, but this girl was a 10 year old, mentally sick, abused child when she did those terrible things.It doesn't excuse what she did but those are the facts.As far as I have known she has caused no trouble since getting out and I think she deserved to get another chance to make a life.

After she was released from prison, she changed her name and remains anonymous to this day.

Huh, let me bring this older topic up again. Just because in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], child abuse and murder have been mentioned.

This case has always been very interesting for me - nearly incredible that such a young girl could make her friend - who was actually 2 years older! - cooperate in killing two little boys.

I read that Mary had experienced serious sexual abuse when she was 3...4 (!) years old. Her mother - who was a "professional" herself, offering exclusive services - made her a part of the business. I just cannot understand why none of her guests contacted the police? Were they afraid of losing their reputation if others learnt that they were regular clients to Betty Bell?

The hatred against Mary Bell is purely unjusticeful, I think. She did serve her time in youth prison, and does not deserve to be hated by everyone for the rest of her life. She was very young, she experienced extreme cruelty when she was a toddler, so no wonder she grew up thinking cruelty is okay and a natural part of life. But later she did understand that it was a horrible thing to do. Changing her name shows a real intention to be someone else than she used to be.
Therefore I think she has the right to anonimity.