Barlinnie's days as a prison are numbered with news it is to be replaced by HMP Glasgow by 2026.
It's a grim place, with grizzly past, where until a little over 60 years ago some of Scotland's most notorious criminals met their end at the hands of the hangman.
From the first execution at Barlinnie in 1946, to the very last just 14 years later - it's a sinister period in the history of an dangerous and dark corner of the city.
In all 10 men met their maker courtesy of public executioners Thomas and Albert Pierrepoint before capital punishment was outlawed in 1965.
From robberies gone wrong, to gang fights that ended in death - the tales that led to hanging at Barlinnie cast a long shadow even today.
In the first of our series 'Hanged at Barlinnie' we take a look at four of the stories that ended with short walk to the gallows and an unmarked grave within the prison walls.
READ MORE - Barlinnie to be replaced by HMP Glasgow in 2026 as contract awarded for new prison
John Lyon
On February 8, 1946, John Lyon became Barlinnie’s first hanging.
The previous year, Lyon was involved with Glasgow’s Iona boys gang. They had battled the rival Dougie boys gang on the corner of Douglas Street and Argyle street, with one of the Dougie boys members - John Brady, losing his life.
He was found by his brother Joseph, in a pool of his own blood in Washington Street.
Other members of the Dougie boys gang were able to identify John Lyon, as well as other Iona boys John Rennie, Alexander Crosbie, and Hugh Crosbie.
All four boys were arrested and stood before the High Court of Justiciary.
Hugh Crosbie was the first to escape execution, with the evidence behind him seeing a verdict of not proven. The other three were sentenced to execution.
Rennie had his execution appealed, which was successful. Alexander Crosbie was reprieved, serving ten years in prison.
In the end, John Lyon was the only member of the Iona boys to hang for the crime.
George Francis Shaw
When the body of pensioner Michael Conly, also known affectionately as ‘Old Mick’, was found in a farm hut in Lanark in August 1952 - police soon launched a murder investigation.
Conly’s pension money he had withdrawn was missing, which gave officers a line of investigation. It didn’t take them long to pinpoint George Francis Shaw and George Dunn, who worked on the farm Conly was found on.
‘Old Mick’ was such a reclusive pensioner, that his disappearance hadn’t even been noticed - and police had to assume the murder had taken place sometime between August 17 and 24.
The murder hut trial began with the men entering not guilty pleas, though Shaw was found guilty of murder. His accomplice Dunn was detained in Carstairs State Hospital.
Shaw’s execution took place on January 26, 1953.
After the hanging, newspapers reported that Shaw maintained: “I am as innocent as anyone.”
Peter Manuel
Often considered Scotland’s worst serial killer, Peter Manuel’s crimes began in January 1956.
He followed 17-year-old Anne Kneilands onto a golf course in East Kilbride, sexually assaulted her and beat her to death with an iron bar. Just months later, he broke into a home in the High Burnside area and shot Marion Watt, her sister Margaret, and Marion’s 16-year-old daughter Vivienne.
Shortly after, Manuel served an 18 month sentence for burglary before being released in November 1957. It didn’t take him long to commit his next murder, when he shot a taxi driver.
Again, mere months later, Manuel broke into the home of the Smart family - killing Peter and Doris Smart, along with their 10-year-old son Michael.
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His string of crimes finally came to an end when he paid for a round of drinks using new banknotes in a pub - in the days before cash machines, when new bank notes were uncommon.
He was arrested in January 1958, when the banknotes were found to belong to Peter Smart.
Manuel was put on trial in May 1958, and with the jury convicting him of seven murders he was sentenced to execution on July 11.
Anthony Miller
Anthony Miller became the last person to be executed at Barlinnie, and the last teenager in the UK.
He was put on trial in November of 1960, after a robbery that went wrong earlier in the year.
Miller, along with his accomplice James Denovan, had a routine of robbery - they targeted homosexual men who would not report the crimes, as homosexuality was illegal at the time. They would use Denovan as ‘bait’ to attract victims, before luring them to a secluded area of a park - where Miller would appear and threaten victims unless they handed over their valuables.
In one robbery that went too far Miller beat one of the victims, John Cremin, to death.
The duo seemed to have managed to escape being caught, until later in the year when Denovan was caught in an ‘act of indecency’ in the same park - with a newspaper cutting relating to the death of John Cremin on his person.
He confessed his guilt and led the police to Miller. They were both charged with capital murder of Cremin, as well as assault and robbery.
Miller was found guilty of capital murder, while Denovan was found guilty of non-capital murder. As Anthony was a 19-year-old and legally an adult, and the crime had taken place during the course of a robbery, he was eligible for the death penalty.
Appeals soon came for the young offender, due to it being his first time going through the court - while the public opinion of execution was beginning to change. Despite the appeals and delays, his execution date was set.
Miller was hanged at 8.02am on December 22 1960, by official executioner Harry Allen. It was the last execution to take place at HMP Barlinnie.
The full list of men to be executed at Barlinnie is below:
- John Lyon, 21,
- Patrick Carraher, 40
- John Caldwell, 20
- Christopher Harris, 28
- James Robertson, 31
- James Smith, 21
- Patrick Gallagher Deveney, 42
- George Francis Shaw, 25
- Peter Manuel, 31
- Anthony Miller, 19
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