Ernest Barrie (born 1955) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

killer who is notable for having killed a man after having previously had his conviction for

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

quashed with help from the '' Rough Justice'' programme, which investigated supposed

miscarriages of justice A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Inno ...

. Convicted of robbing a branch of the

Clydesdale Bank Clydesdale Bank ( gd, Banca Dhail Chluaidh) is a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in Scotland. In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank's holding company CYBG would acquire Virgin Money for ...

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

in 1986, his conviction was quashed on appeal in 1989 after ''Rough Justice'' claimed that the robber caught on

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

may not have been Barrie. Subsequently, in July 2007, he attacked and killed his 38-year-old neighbour Alan Hughes in his flat in

Hutchesontown Hutchesontown is an inner-city area in Glasgow, Scotland. Mostly residential, it is situated directly south of the River Clyde and forms part of the wider historic Gorbals district, which is covered by the Southside Central ward under Glasgow ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, inflicting 47 injuries upon him in a 15-minute long attack. He pleaded guilty to

culpable homicide Culpable homicide is a categorisation of certain offences in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the illegal killing of a person either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a particular j ...

in 2009.

Biography

Barrie was convicted of robbing a branch of the Clydesdale Bank in Blantyre,

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

, of £40,000 in 1986 and sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment. He was freed on appeal after an investigation by ''Rough Justice'' which found that the robber caught on CCTV was not Barrie. The 1987 episode of ''Rough Justice'' which featured his case was titled "Evidence in Camera". In 1998 his son Ernest fell into the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

300 yards (274 metres) from the family home and died. The ''Rough Justice'' team sent him flowers and a card. In July 2007 Barrie beat his neighbour to death at his flat at 305 Caledonia Road,

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...

, Glasgow, with his downstairs neighbour calling the police after hearing the violent attack take place over 15 minutes. When they arrived they found the man in a pool of blood and although he was then still alive he bled to death. Barrie had inflicted 47 separate injuries with a knife, a toilet cistern lid, a walking stick and a metal pole during the prolonged attack. Barrie pleaded guilty to culpable homicide (he had originally been charged with murder but pleaded guilty to the reduced charge) and psychiatrists agreed that he was suffering from a psychotic illness. Sentencing, the judge said: "This is a very serious crime and a lengthy custodial sentence is the only possible sentence. I also have to make sure the public is protected from you after you are released". He was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment and was also ordered to be supervised for three years after his release from prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrie, Ernest Living people 1955 births 1986 crimes in the United Kingdom 1986 in Scotland 1987 in Scotland 1989 in Scotland 2007 in Scotland 2008 in Scotland 2009 in Scotland Overturned convictions in Scotland BBC television documentaries British crime television series Investigative journalism Crime in Glasgow Organised crime in Scotland 1998 in Scotland Crime in Scotland Overturned convictions in the United Kingdom 1980s in Glasgow 2000s in Glasgow Criminals from Glasgow People from Glasgow British male criminals Scottish criminal law 1989 in British law 2007 in British law 2008 in British law 2009 crimes in the United Kingdom Trials in Scotland Murder trials 1980s trials 2000s trials