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Henry John Burnett (5 January 1942 – 15 August 1963) was the last man to be hanged in Scotland, and the first in Aberdeen since 1891. He was tried at the high court in Aberdeen from 23 to 25 July 1963 for the murder of merchant seaman Thomas Guyan.
Jul 1, 2023 · Henry Burnett had been involved in a love triangle involving Margaret Guyan, 25, and husband Thomas, 27. The Guyans had married six years earlier, in 1957, and moved into a flat in Jackson...
- Norman Silvester
Aug 14, 2013 · Burnett, 21, had fallen for 25-year-old Margaret Guyan, a work colleague whose husband Thomas was often away at sea. The Guyans had married six years earlier in 1957 and lived in a flat in...
In December 1961 Margaret took a job at John R. Stephen Fish Curers where she met and fell for Henry Burnett. The relationship blossomed and by May 1963, Margaret had moved out of Jackson Terrace with her younger son, Keith, to 40 Skene Terrace to live with Burnett.
- Thomas Guyan Killed
- Henry Burnett Tried For Murder
- Henry Burnett Found Guilty
- First Execution in 100 Years
- “Ritual Sacrifice”
Fortunately for Margaret, he didn’t kill her, and she was able to go to Guyan, but this sealed Guyan’s fate. Burnett stole his own brother’s shotgun and shot Guyan dead, then stole a car at gunpoint. By now, the police had been alerted, and pursued, eventually pulling him over a short distance out of town and taking him into custody. Justice was sw...
By July, Burnett was being tried on three counts: assault of Margaret Guyan, murder of Thomas Guyan, and theft of the car. On 24 July, the Aberdeen Press and Journal said that he “listened intently in the High Court at Aberdeen yesterday as fish worker Mrs Margaret Guyan (25) said that he shot her husband then asked her to marry him” and occasional...
However, the Liverpool Echo reported on the same day that, in court, he had denied all three charges against him and “a special defence of insanity has been lodged on Burnett’s behalf.” This didn’t work. On 25 July, the jury convicted him by a majority after less than half an hour of deliberation. He was sentenced to be hanged. The following day bo...
That day’s Coventry Evening Telegraph explained that it was Aberdeen’s first execution in more than 100 years, and although it was not carried out in public, as the last one had been in 1857, a crowd had gathered outside the prison gates. It only dispersed when told by a police officer that the execution had taken place and no further notice would ...
“Are executions such as this likely to make anyone feel safer?” the Daily Mirror column writer asked. “Hardly! In England and Wales the crime of Burnett, his trial and his impending execution have gone almost completely unnoticed. In Scotland they created a certain brief stir – partly because the victim’s mother, sister and brother signed a petitio...
Aug 11, 2020 · Burnett had fallen for Guyan’s wife, Margaret, a work colleague whose husband was often working away at sea. Margaret felt trapped in a loveless marriage and moved in with Burnett at a...
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Aug 15, 2016 · Henry John Burnett was just 21 years old when he was hanged at Craiginches Prison in Aberdeen, at 8am on August 15 1963. His crime was the murder of merchant seaman Thomas Guyan. Burnett...
