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Robert Black (serial killer)
Encyclopedia
Robert Black is a Scottish paedophile
serial killer
convicted of the kidnap
and murder
of four girls between the ages of 5 and 11 between 1981 and 1986 in the United Kingdom
. He was convicted of sexually assaulting
one of the girls and of raping
the other three. Black was also convicted of the kidnap of a fifth girl and the attempted kidnap of a sixth.
Black is also suspected of a number of unsolved child murders in the UK dating back to 1969 and others in the 1970s throughout Europe.
. This was a practice that he would continue into adulthood. As a young child, he also had an interest in the genitals of other children. At the age of five, he and a girl both took off their clothes and compared each others' genitals.
Black first attempted rape at the age of 12 along with two other boys. They attacked a girl in a field, but found themselves unable to complete the act of penetration. The authorities were notified and Black was moved to the Red House in Musselburgh
. While there, a male staff member sexually abused
him. It was while Black was at Red House that he also entered Musselburgh Grammar School where he developed an interest in football and swimming.
At 15, Black left Red House and found a job working as a delivery boy in Greenock
near Glasgow
. He later admitted that, while on his rounds, he molested 30 to 40 girls with various degrees of success. None of these incidents seem to have been officially reported until his first conviction at the age of 17 when he lured a seven-year-old girl to a deserted building, strangled her until she lost consciousness and then masturbated over her unconscious body. He was arrested and convicted of 'lewd and libidinous' behaviour for this offence, but received only an admonishment.
After this, Black moved back to Grangemouth and got a job with a builders' supply company. He also found a girlfriend, Pamela Hodgson, fell in love and asked her to marry him. Black was devastated when she ended the relationship several months later. In 1966, Black's inappropriate manifestation of his sexual desires resurfaced when he molested his landlord and landlady's nine-year old granddaughter. The girl eventually told her parents. They took no legal action but Black was ordered to leave the house.
At this time, Black moved back to Kinlochleven
where he was raised. He took a room with a couple who had a seven-year-old daughter. As before, Black molested the girl. This time, when the sexual abuse was discovered, police were notified. Black was sentenced to a year of borstal
training at Polmont
.
On his release, Black left Scotland and moved to London. His abuse of young girls subsided for a time when he discovered child pornography
— when police searched his home after his arrests for murder, they discovered more than 100 magazines and 50 videos. In London, Black found work as a swimming pool attendant and would sometimes go underneath the pool, remove the lights and watch young girls as they swam. Soon, a young girl complained that Black had touched her and while no official charges were brought, Black lost his job.
While Black lived in London he spent a lot of time in pubs playing darts
. He became a reasonably good player, and a well-known face on the amateur darts circuit. Darts world champion Eric Bristow
knew Black vaguely during this time, remembering him as a "loner" who never seemed to have a girlfriend. In 1976, Black began working as a van driver. It was while working as a driver that he developed a thorough knowledge of some of the UK's roads, particularly its minor roads.
, County Antrim in Northern Ireland to meet a friend. Her bicycle was recovered close to her home. Her body was found at McKee's Dam near Hillsborough, County Down
six days later. She had been sexually assaulted. Black, who at the time was working in the area for a poster-delivery company, was convicted of her kidnap, sexual assault and murder at Armagh Crown Court on 27 October 2011.
, after which there were no sightings of Susan. Nobody saw it happen, but at some point between the river and Coldstream, Susan was abducted by Black. He raped and strangled her and dumped her body about 250 miles away by the side of the A518 at Loxley near Uttoxeter
, Staffordshire
, England.
, around 300 miles from her home. The cause of death could not be determined due to decomposition
(as had been the case with Susan Maxwell), but the absence of clothes suggested a sexual motive.
in Leeds
after leaving her home to go to the corner shop to buy a loaf of bread. The shopkeeper remembered Sarah coming in to the shop, but she never returned home. The last sighting of Sarah was of her walking towards the snicket
that she used as a shortcut. Black kidnapped, raped and murdered her. Her body was found dumped in the River Trent
near Nottingham
a month later.
. It was one of the first inquiries to use the HOLMES computer system widely, following recommendations in the aftermath of the Yorkshire Ripper investigation.
Black has been considered as a suspect by police in the unsolved murder or disappearance of a number of other girls, including the disappearance of April Fabb in April 1969, and the disappearance of Genette Tate in August 1978. He has been questioned about these cases, but prosecutors have said that there is insufficient evidence to charge Black.
, Scotland. He was seen snatching a six-year-old girl off the street and bundling her into his van. An alert member of the public called the police who chased after the van and subsequently apprehended Black when the van was recognised as he doubled back. The girl's father discovered the child in the back of the van, tied up, gagged with tape and stuffed head-first into a sleeping bag. Apart from suffering from shock, the girl was uninjured. She had been sexually assaulted. A search of Black's home revealed a large collection of child pornography
.
The following month, Black was convicted of abduction and was sentenced to life imprisonment
.
Black stood trial at Newcastle upon Tyne
Moot Hall on Wednesday 13 April 1994 and denied the charges. Having sifted through many thousands of petrol-station receipts, the prosecution was able to place him at all the scenes and show the similarities between the three killings and the kidnap of the six-year-old girl who had been rescued. Juries are not usually allowed to know of a defendant's current or past convictions
, but in this case the judge allowed it.
On 19 May, the jury found Black guilty on all counts, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment and told that he should serve at least 35 years. This would keep him behind bars until at least 2029, when he would be 82.
On 16 December 2009, Black was charged with the murder of Jennifer Cardy. He was found guilty on 27 October 2011 and was given a further life sentence.
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
convicted of the kidnap
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of four girls between the ages of 5 and 11 between 1981 and 1986 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. He was convicted of sexually assaulting
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
one of the girls and of raping
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
the other three. Black was also convicted of the kidnap of a fifth girl and the attempted kidnap of a sixth.
Black is also suspected of a number of unsolved child murders in the UK dating back to 1969 and others in the 1970s throughout Europe.
Early life
Black's natural mother, Jessie Hunter Black, refused to put his father's name on his birth certificate and had him fostered. Black was brought up by a foster couple who were in their 50s, Jack and Margaret Tulip. Black did not fit in at school and was given the nickname 'Smelly Robby Tulip' by his classmates, who noticed that Black preferred to hang around with children a year or two younger than he was, rather than people his own age. He developed an early reputation for aggressive and wayward behaviour. Locals recalled that Black often had bruises, although Black himself later said he could not recollect where these injuries came from. Margaret Tulip died in 1958, when Black was just 11, and he was initially sent to a children's home in Falkirk. His increasingly difficult behaviour meant he was moved several times over the following years.Early crimes
While living with the Tulips, Robert Black developed sexual self-awareness at a young age. He later said that from the age of eight he would often push objects up his anusHuman anus
The human anus is the external opening of the rectum. Like other animals, its closure is controlled by sphincter muscles...
. This was a practice that he would continue into adulthood. As a young child, he also had an interest in the genitals of other children. At the age of five, he and a girl both took off their clothes and compared each others' genitals.
Black first attempted rape at the age of 12 along with two other boys. They attacked a girl in a field, but found themselves unable to complete the act of penetration. The authorities were notified and Black was moved to the Red House in Musselburgh
Musselburgh
Musselburgh is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, six miles east of Edinburgh city centre.-History:...
. While there, a male staff member sexually abused
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
him. It was while Black was at Red House that he also entered Musselburgh Grammar School where he developed an interest in football and swimming.
At 15, Black left Red House and found a job working as a delivery boy in Greenock
Greenock
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
near Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. He later admitted that, while on his rounds, he molested 30 to 40 girls with various degrees of success. None of these incidents seem to have been officially reported until his first conviction at the age of 17 when he lured a seven-year-old girl to a deserted building, strangled her until she lost consciousness and then masturbated over her unconscious body. He was arrested and convicted of 'lewd and libidinous' behaviour for this offence, but received only an admonishment.
After this, Black moved back to Grangemouth and got a job with a builders' supply company. He also found a girlfriend, Pamela Hodgson, fell in love and asked her to marry him. Black was devastated when she ended the relationship several months later. In 1966, Black's inappropriate manifestation of his sexual desires resurfaced when he molested his landlord and landlady's nine-year old granddaughter. The girl eventually told her parents. They took no legal action but Black was ordered to leave the house.
At this time, Black moved back to Kinlochleven
Kinlochleven
Kinlochleven is a village in Lochaber, in the Scottish Highlands and lies at the eastern end of Loch Leven, a sea loch cutting into the western Scottish Highlands. To the north lie the Mamores ridge; to the south lie the mountains flanking Glen Coe...
where he was raised. He took a room with a couple who had a seven-year-old daughter. As before, Black molested the girl. This time, when the sexual abuse was discovered, police were notified. Black was sentenced to a year of borstal
Borstal
A borstal was a type of youth prison in the United Kingdom, run by the Prison Service and intended to reform seriously delinquent young people. The word is sometimes used loosely to apply to other kinds of youth institution or reformatory, such as Approved Schools and Detention Centres. The court...
training at Polmont
Polmont
Polmont is a village in the Falkirk council area of Central Scotland. It lies towards the east of the town of Falkirk, north of the Union Canal, which runs adjacent to the village....
.
On his release, Black left Scotland and moved to London. His abuse of young girls subsided for a time when he discovered child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
— when police searched his home after his arrests for murder, they discovered more than 100 magazines and 50 videos. In London, Black found work as a swimming pool attendant and would sometimes go underneath the pool, remove the lights and watch young girls as they swam. Soon, a young girl complained that Black had touched her and while no official charges were brought, Black lost his job.
While Black lived in London he spent a lot of time in pubs playing darts
Darts
Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
. He became a reasonably good player, and a well-known face on the amateur darts circuit. Darts world champion Eric Bristow
Eric Bristow
Eric Bristow MBE is a British darts player, whose skill at the game in the 1980s helped turn it into a worldwide spectator sport.- Early career :...
knew Black vaguely during this time, remembering him as a "loner" who never seemed to have a girlfriend. In 1976, Black began working as a van driver. It was while working as a driver that he developed a thorough knowledge of some of the UK's roads, particularly its minor roads.
Murder of Jennifer Cardy
On 12 August 1981, nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy cycled from her house in BallinderryBallinderry
Ballinderry is a small civil and ecclesiastical parish on both sides of the County Londonderry / County Tyrone border in Northern Ireland. It is a rural parish of about 350 houses and lies on the western shores of Lough Neagh....
, County Antrim in Northern Ireland to meet a friend. Her bicycle was recovered close to her home. Her body was found at McKee's Dam near Hillsborough, County Down
Hillsborough, County Down
Hillsborough is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland, situated from the city of Belfast. It is within the Lisburn City Council area....
six days later. She had been sexually assaulted. Black, who at the time was working in the area for a poster-delivery company, was convicted of her kidnap, sexual assault and murder at Armagh Crown Court on 27 October 2011.
Murder of Susan Maxwell
On 30 July 1982, 11-year-old Susan Maxwell from the village of Cornhill on Tweed, on the English side of the English/Scottish border left her home to play a game of tennis across the border in Coldstream. Several local witnesses remembered seeing her until she crossed the bridge over the River TweedRiver Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is long and flows primarily through the Borders region of Great Britain. It rises on Tweedsmuir at Tweed's Well near where the Clyde, draining northwest, and the Annan draining south also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" as the Border saying...
, after which there were no sightings of Susan. Nobody saw it happen, but at some point between the river and Coldstream, Susan was abducted by Black. He raped and strangled her and dumped her body about 250 miles away by the side of the A518 at Loxley near Uttoxeter
Uttoxeter
Uttoxeter is a historic market town in Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. The current population is approximately 13,711, though new developments in the town will increase this figure. Uttoxeter lies close to the River Dove and is near the cities of Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and...
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, England.
Murder of Caroline Hogg
On the evening of 8 July 1983, five-year-old Caroline Hogg from Portobello, an eastern suburb of Edinburgh, went out to play near her home for a few minutes. She never returned. Many witnesses reported seeing a scruffy-looking man watching a young girl, believed to be Caroline, in the playground near her home, then holding hands with her in a nearby amusement arcade. The man was Black. Caroline's body was found 10 days later in a ditch in LeicestershireLeicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, around 300 miles from her home. The cause of death could not be determined due to decomposition
Decomposition
Decomposition is the process by which organic material is broken down into simpler forms of matter. The process is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biome. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death...
(as had been the case with Susan Maxwell), but the absence of clothes suggested a sexual motive.
Murder of Sarah Harper
Three years later, on 26 March 1986, 10-year-old Sarah Harper went missing from MorleyMorley, West Yorkshire
Morley is a market town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately south-west of Leeds city centre. Together with Drighlington, Gildersome, Churwell, Tingley and East/West Ardsley, the town had a population of 47,579 in...
in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
after leaving her home to go to the corner shop to buy a loaf of bread. The shopkeeper remembered Sarah coming in to the shop, but she never returned home. The last sighting of Sarah was of her walking towards the snicket
Alley
An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane found in urban areas, often for pedestrians only, which usually runs between or behind buildings. In older cities and towns in Europe, alleys are often what is left of a medieval street network, or a right of way or ancient footpath in an urban setting...
that she used as a shortcut. Black kidnapped, raped and murdered her. Her body was found dumped in the River Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
near Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
a month later.
Police investigation
The bodies of Maxwell, Hogg and Harper were found within 26 miles of each other, and police already believed that these three murders were linked. Detectives also thought that, because all three victims had been left long distances from where they had been taken, that the killer travelled as part of his occupation - possibly a lorry driver. The police faced great pressure to solve the crimes, as some newspapers compared them to the Moors MurdersMoors murders
The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around what is now Greater Manchester, England. The victims were five children aged between 10 and 17—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans—at least...
. It was one of the first inquiries to use the HOLMES computer system widely, following recommendations in the aftermath of the Yorkshire Ripper investigation.
Black has been considered as a suspect by police in the unsolved murder or disappearance of a number of other girls, including the disappearance of April Fabb in April 1969, and the disappearance of Genette Tate in August 1978. He has been questioned about these cases, but prosecutors have said that there is insufficient evidence to charge Black.
Capture and first trial
Black was arrested on 14 July 1990, near StowStow, Scottish Borders
Stow of Wedale, or simply Stow, is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, seven miles north of Galashiels. Population 620 .-The name:...
, Scotland. He was seen snatching a six-year-old girl off the street and bundling her into his van. An alert member of the public called the police who chased after the van and subsequently apprehended Black when the van was recognised as he doubled back. The girl's father discovered the child in the back of the van, tied up, gagged with tape and stuffed head-first into a sleeping bag. Apart from suffering from shock, the girl was uninjured. She had been sexually assaulted. A search of Black's home revealed a large collection of child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
.
The following month, Black was convicted of abduction and was sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
.
Murder trials
Police suspected Black of the murders of Susan Maxwell, Caroline Hogg and Sarah Harper. They checked his petrol receipts and eventually charged Black with all three murders, in addition to the attempted kidnapping of a 15-year-old girl who had escaped from a man who had tried to drag her into a van in 1988.Black stood trial at Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
Moot Hall on Wednesday 13 April 1994 and denied the charges. Having sifted through many thousands of petrol-station receipts, the prosecution was able to place him at all the scenes and show the similarities between the three killings and the kidnap of the six-year-old girl who had been rescued. Juries are not usually allowed to know of a defendant's current or past convictions
Similar fact evidence
In the law of evidence, similar fact evidence establishes the conditions under which factual evidence of past misconduct of accused can be admitted at trial for the purpose of inferring that the accused committed the misconduct at issue.In Canada, the rule is established in R. v...
, but in this case the judge allowed it.
On 19 May, the jury found Black guilty on all counts, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment and told that he should serve at least 35 years. This would keep him behind bars until at least 2029, when he would be 82.
On 16 December 2009, Black was charged with the murder of Jennifer Cardy. He was found guilty on 27 October 2011 and was given a further life sentence.