ABSTRACT
Patrick Alesworth, Sara Benyon, Caroline Beale, Milton Brown, Horrett Campbell, Darren Carr, Sharon Dalson, Regina Fasuyi, Glen Grant, Wayne Hutchinson, Brendan O'Donnell, John du Pont, Robert Sartin and Anthony Smith. These fourteen names should evoke uneasy feelings in readers of British national newspapers, but perhaps not many will remember that each of the named had committed a terrible deed. Alesworth, for instance, ‘killed his daughter’ (Guardian, 28 September 1995), Brown ‘stabbed his 16-month-old son, leaving the child brain damaged and blind’ (Guardian, 10 May 1994), Campbell ‘ran amok with a machete at a Wolverhampton infants school’ (Guardian, 7 December 1996). The killings were reported in British national newspapers, analysed, put into context, explained and the blame for them shared out. According to the journalists each of these people was mentally ill, a voice hearer, and moreover the hearing of voices and the violent deed were connected.
