The case of Mary Bell shocked the nation in 1968. In the city of Newcastle, an eleven year-old girl was responsible for the death of two young boys who were not much more than toddlers. The method of death was strangulation (squeezing of the neck) and both tragic incidents took place on derelict land where massive slum housing clearances were under way. The girl responsible for the murders was Mary Flora Bell - a darkly angelic looking child who never seemed to show any sign of emotion. The case of Mary Bell, as it drifts further and further into the past, is like a nightmarish folk memory that refuses to ever completely fade. It is a strange and tragic story that will probably never lose its enduring and morbid fascination.
