The family of a girl killed by Peter Tobin have challenged the ethics of True Crime entertainment in the wake of the serial killer’s death.
The murderer, rapist and paedophile died in hospital on Saturday aged 76 after becoming unwell at HMP Edinburgh where he was serving three life sentences.
One of his multiple victims was 15-year-old schoolgirl Vicky Hamilton, of Redding, near Falkirk, whom he was serving a life sentence for after her murder in 1991.
Her family said they fear she will “become but a footnote” in his history while True Crime shows continue to dominate popular streaming services, making the nefarious acts of serial killers more well-known.
Unfortunately the popularity of serial killers and True Crime will make him infamous for a long time and his victims will all but become a footnote in his history— Family of Vicky Hamilton
In a statement released following news of Tobin’s death, Miss Hamilton’s relatives said: “We no longer wish to talk about him (Tobin).
“Unfortunately the popularity of serial killers and True Crime will make him infamous for a long time and his victims will all but become a footnote in his history.
“We remember Vicky, we remember her laughter, her smile and we want to keep that memory after all the years of having no idea what had happened to her, followed by heartbreak of losing our mum not long after Vicky went missing. He does not deserve anymore of our family’s thoughts.”
It is not the first time victims’ families have spoken out about the moral issue of dramatising the savage acts of notorious killers for the screen.
Netflix’s show released last month, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which has reportedly been seen by some 56 million households already, has been met with backlash from relatives impacted by the man responsible for the gruesome murders of 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991.
Rita Isbell, the sister of Errol Lindsey, one of Dahmer’s victims, told publication Insider: “I was never contacted about the show.
“I feel like Netflix should’ve asked if we mind or how we felt about making it.
“They didn’t ask me anything. They just did it.”
Tobin was also serving a life sentence for the killing of 18-year-old Dinah McNicol, also in 1991, whose body, along with Miss Hamilton’s was found 17 years later, buried in the garden of his former home in Margate, Kent.
He was also serving a life sentence for raping and murdering Polish student Angelika Kluk, 23, and hiding her body under the floor of a Glasgow church in 2006.
Police Scotland said the killer refused to give officers details about further murders they think he committed as they questioned him before his death.
