She has come face-to-face with the country’s most disturbed killers, rapists and mentally ill criminals.
Dr Rhona Morrison, like the real-life Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs, would spend hours alone with the men and women whose crimes shocked Scotland.
As a leading forensic psychiatrist, her expert evidence could determine an accused person’s state of mind and whether they would face jail, a secure hospital or even be set free.
But, as she reveals today, she was rarely intimidated until she became a victim – of an obsessed man who had stalked her without her even knowing.
Rhona, 59, who has now written a book about her career – I Don’t Talk To Dead Bodies: The Curious Encounters Of A Forensic Psychiatrist, which comes out in July – said: “I saw literally hundreds of violent offenders over the course of my career. Some were just to assess sanity and fitness to plead, some were for treatment while in custody and some had committed an offence secondary to mental illness and I would provide expert opinion for the court re: disposal and treatment.
“The most violent people were usually interviewed in relatively safe settings. So it’s hard to articulate the feelings I experienced following the realisation this man had been obsessed with me for about a decade.
“He had crossed the invisible line surrounding my professional life, invading my personal, family space.”
As a consultant forensic psychiatrist for the NHS and Scottish Prison Service, Rhona ran twice-weekly clinics in the country’s highest security prisons.
She not only dealt with TC Campbell, who was later cleared of the Ice Cream Wars killings, but also Farai Chiriseri, who killed her five-year-old son, removing his heart, and the controversial acquittal of mum Teresa Campbell of murdering her partner.
But that was nothing to discovering a man had been stalking her, been to her children’s school, had used walkie-talkies and baby monitors to listen to her as she gave lectures, and posted videos on YouTube from her workplaces showing disturbing messages.
Rhona said the ordeal started when she gave a talk about mental health awareness. She said: “Twelve minutes in, I was interrupted by a loud crackling noise that sounded like interference on the sound system. A man could be heard ranting unintelligibly in a loud voice. It seemed to go on forever, so I had to stop the lecture. The voice was behind me but there was no one there.
“More people left to investigate and there were lots of confused glances. The ranting stopped but not before I heard a muffled, ‘Merry Christmas, Dr Morrison.’”
After her speech, the 60-strong audience was told they would have to delay leaving as police were hunting for an intruder. They were escorted to their cars by police and the school later confirmed it had found a walkie-talkie in the piano.
Rhona said: “Months later a former patient contacted the team as she’d found 200 videos on YouTube which included distressing content in relation to me.
“I’d met him once many years before when, as a potential named victim, I’d tried to alert him of a risk to his safety. I was trying to help him but he didn’t see it that way.
“He was not my patient. His girlfriend had ended their relationship at that point and he blamed me.
“Going on to YouTube was daunting. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see. A creepy, gaunt young man stared back at me from a homemade video, saying, ‘Dr Morrison’s a black hole.’
“In another video I saw ‘DR MORRISON IS A LIAR’ written in lipstick on the glass door of one of the hospital buildings. I spotted one that was filmed outside the outpatient clinic where we’d first met, saying he was back there on the anniversary of the day I’d ruined his life.
“The enormity of the situation started to dawn on me. This man was filled with hatred towards me and this had now escalated to stalking and offending.”
Police later arrested a 43-year-old man, who was given a five-year non-harassment order and sentenced to a community payback order at Falkirk Sheriff Court after being convicted of breach of the peace and stalking.
Mum-of-two Rhona began working as a psychiatrist in 1986. She was also associate medical director for
mental health services in NHS Forth Valley before retiring in 2018.
While she blanches slightly at the Silence of the Lambs comparison, she agreed that some very dangerous prisoners would sometimes try to play mind games with her.
She said: “Clarice Starling was an FBI forensic profiler, perhaps with a psychology background. I was more involved with trying to identify if a major mental illness had directly caused the offending behaviour and treating and rehabilitating the small proportion of offenders who were ill.
“There were often people playing some sort of games, particularly in custody or with substance users.”
One patient at a community clinic talked about his sexual fantasies and, after describing a horrific murder scenario, he alluded to it being true.
She said: “I experienced more fear working in the community because of the more unpredictable environment. Entering the home of a tall, heavy-set, psychotic male who has a history of weapon use, violence, illicit drug misuse and recent non-compliance with medication is much riskier than meeting a sober murderer in a prison or hospital setting.”
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