The Mary Bell case disturbed many not only to the horrific nature of the murder, but also because it was committed by a merely 11 year old girl. When you’re 11 years old, there’s a lot to be thinking about. Like how the transition to secondary school is going to go. Or if lunch is going to be disgusting at school today. Which dress you'll be wearing. What you’re not thinking about is murder. Except if you’re Mary Bell.
The crime committed by the 11 year old girl is gruesome to say the least. On 25 May 1968, the day before her 11th birthday, Mary Bell strangled 4-year-old Martin Brown in a derelict house. She was believed to have committed this crime alone. Between then and a second killing, she and a friend, Norma Joyce Bell (1955–1989; no relation), aged 13, broke into and vandalised a nursery in Scotswood, leaving notes that claimed responsibility for the killing. The police dismissed this incident as a prank.
On 31 July 1968, the two girls took part in the strangulation death of 3-year-old Brian Howe on wasteland in the same Scotswood area. Police reports concluded that Mary Bell later returned to his body to carve an "M" into the boy's abdomen and used scissors to cut off some of his hair, scratch his legs, and mutilate his genitals.
Unsurprisingly there was an uproar and in an overnight Mary was dubbed as "The Most Evil Child in the World". People despised her and wished death for her. What Mary did was truly horrifying. But the question is, was she alone responsible for actions?
‘Family’ Life
Mary’s mother, Elizabeth McCrickett (Betty), was born in Gateshead in 1939 and described as a depressive and very erratic. She tried to have Mary adopted, but when family offered to look after Mary, this was rejected. Instead, Mary had a neglected childhood with Betty having a notorious reputation for disappearing for weeks at a time when she’d travel to Glasgow (where her family lived) to ply her trade as a sex worker. During this time, Mary would often be left by herself.
Although Mary referred to William A Bell (Billy Bell) as her biological father, there are questions around whether Betty met him after Mary’s birth. Whatever the circumstances, Billy and Betty married after Mary’s birth in 1958. He was a petty criminal and drunkard who was well known to police and who was later arrested for armed robbery.
Family members have suggested that Betty attempted to kill Mary on more than one occasion and make it look accidental when Betty was just a small child. The first was when Mary apparently fell from a window, and the second was when Mary accidentally took some sleeping pills. On one occasion someone claimed to have witnessed Betty feeding Mary pills like they were sweets.
There were even said Betty would take Mary to her endeavors then forced the little girl to watch her have sex with clients. She was even said allowing them to molest and rape Mary when she as young as 3. This would continue until her arrest in 1968.
Mary displayed a lot of dysfunctional and worrying behavior at school and peers recall how she would become extremely aggressive if upset by another child and how her head would shake before she’d immediately grab someone by their throat. One small girl complained to a teacher about how Mary had stubbed a cigarette out on her cheek. Mary’s aggressive behavior caused children to stay away from her through fear, which must have isolated Mary further. When confronted about her actions, she’d be honest and seemed to show little emotion. Despite knowing about her violence, the school failed to address the issue.
Betty Bell in 1972 and Billy Bell (far Left)
Abuse
Mary was conditioned by her dysfunctional surroundings from an early age. Her mother would allow men to abuse Mary from the age of just four, and due to the lack of space at home, Mary was exposed to what went on between Betty and her clients which, it was claimed, also involved sadomasochism. She was also exposed to her father’s drunken behavior and violence. All that alongside the sexual violence she witnessed between others became the norm in her young mind.
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It's rather fascinating, or more correctly, disturbing to find people are quick to solely condemned Mary and outraged when the criminal justice decided to give her probation due to her young age and later a new identity.
I do believe this is one of the rare instances the police and justice system may understand the case better than the rest; they pitied her for her young age, they pitied her for they know her backstory better than anyone else. In this case I believe her terrible family life lead her to her crimes. Once she was removed from the toxic environment and went through the rehab, there were no more incidents involving her - and yet many vindictive people trying to uncover her current identity. Mary Bell case had always fascinated me not because of her young age when she committed the crime, is the fact EVERYONE seemed to ignored the glaring problem of her case - her background, her family, her parents specifically. Even the school failed her. If you asked me, in my humble, ANGRY opinion, it's the parents, Betty especially should be prisoned or hang for Mary's crimes!
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