Patrick Mackay: Britain's 'Devil's Disciple'
- 21 hours ago
- 3 min read
Patrick Mackay is sometimes called one of Britain's most prolific — and most forgotten — serial killers. A man who nicknamed himself the 'Devil's Disciple', he confessed to eleven killings across London and Kent in the mid-1970s, though he was ultimately convicted of only three manslaughters. Diagnosed as a psychopath at fifteen, he had been flagged as dangerous years before he killed, making his case a troubling study in warnings that went unheeded. Out of respect for the victims, this account avoids graphic detail.
His relative obscurity, despite the scale of what he confessed to, has itself become part of the story.
Key Facts at a Glance
Full name: Patrick David Mackay
Born: 25 September 1952, England
Known as: The Devil's Disciple (self-styled)
Victims: Confessed to 11; convicted of 3 manslaughters (mid-1970s), London and Kent
Background: Diagnosed a psychopath at age 15
Outcome: Life imprisonment (1975)
A disturbed childhood
Born in 1952, Mackay endured a violent home dominated by an abusive, alcoholic father whose death when Patrick was young seemed only to deepen his disturbance. As a boy he tortured animals, set fires and displayed an obsession with Nazi Germany. By his mid-teens, psychiatrists had diagnosed him as a psychopath and warned that he could become a cold, calculating killer — a prophecy that went tragically unaddressed.
The killings
Between 1973 and 1975, Mackay is believed to have killed a series of vulnerable people, mostly elderly women he robbed and attacked in their homes in London, alongside other victims. The killing for which he is best known was that of Father Anthony Crean, an elderly Catholic priest he had befriended, whom he attacked with an axe in Kent in 1975. The savagery of that murder, against a man who had shown him kindness, horrified the public.
Confessions and convictions
After his arrest in 1975, Mackay confessed to eleven murders, and detectives found that his accounts matched a string of unsolved killings across London, Essex and Kent. However, he was convicted only of three counts of manslaughter, on grounds of diminished responsibility, with other cases left to lie on file. The gap between what he confessed to and what was proven remains one of the case's enduring puzzles.
A forgotten killer
Despite the gravity of his crimes, Mackay never achieved the notoriety of other British killers of his era, and campaigners and journalists have noted how little known he is. Fresh inquiries into his suspected murders were launched decades later but could not find sufficient evidence to bring new charges, leaving several deaths formally unresolved.
Still behind bars
Mackay was sentenced to life with a minimum term, and he has been repeatedly denied parole on the basis that he remains too dangerous to release, making him one of the longest-serving prisoners in Britain. His case continues to raise hard questions about how a young man identified as a future killer was not more closely managed before he took his first life.
The Devil's Disciple case is a sobering example of missed warnings and unproven crimes. Behind it are the elderly and vulnerable people he attacked, and a kindly priest who befriended a dangerous man — victims who deserve to be remembered far more than the chilling nickname their killer gave himself.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people did Patrick Mackay kill?
He was convicted of three manslaughters but confessed to as many as 11 killings in London and Kent between 1973 and 1975.
Why was he called the 'Devil's Disciple'?
Mackay nicknamed himself this; he was obsessed with Nazism and had been diagnosed as a psychopath as a teenager.
Is Patrick Mackay still alive?
Yes. He remains one of Britain's longest-serving prisoners, repeatedly denied parole as too dangerous to release.
A Prophecy Ignored
Mackay's story is haunted by how thoroughly he was flagged in advance. As a teenager he tortured animals, set fires and showed a disturbing fixation on Nazism, and by the age of fifteen psychiatrists had diagnosed him as a psychopath and warned that he could become a cold, calculating killer. Yet he was never placed under the sustained supervision that warning implied. In the mid-1970s he confessed to eleven killings across London and Kent, though prosecutors accepted guilty pleas to three counts of manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility. Sentenced to life in 1975, he became one of Britain's longest-serving prisoners, and his case is still cited in debates about acting on early warnings of dangerousness.
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