Daniel M'Naghten

Daniel M'Naghten was by all accounts, a textbook example of insanity. A Scottish woodsman, he believed he was the victim of an international conspiracy, involving the Pope and British Prime Minister, Robert Peel. In 1843 he tried to kill Peel, but in a case of mistaken identity accidentally killed his private secretary, Edward Drummond. After stalking Peel for days in London, he saw a figure he believed was Peel from the rear approaching Downing Street, where he fired a single shot into his victim's back. As M'Naghten was quickly overpowered by local constables, Drummond walked to his nearby brother's house; but despite medical attention, died several days later.

Related Topics:
Insanity - Scottish - Pope - British - Robert Peel - 1843 - Edward Drummond - London - Downing Street

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Defended by one of London's best-known barristers, Alexander Cockburn, he was found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity in a trial by jury, which caused a great deal of public unrest with the verdict. Queen Victoria and the House of Lords also strongly disapproved of the jury's verdict; they then called on fifteen judges of the common law courts, including Lord Chief Justice Tindal, to answer a series of questions about of the law of insanity, and from that discourse was brought forward the legal test now known as the M'Naghten Rule for determining criminal liability in the cases of criminally insane perpetrators.

Related Topics:
Alexander Cockburn - Queen Victoria - House of Lords - M'Naghten Rule

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although acquitted, he was forcibly institutionalized for the remainder of his life, first at Bethlem Royal Hospital, and then twenty years later he was transferred to the Broadmoor Institution for the Criminally Insane, where he died a year later.

Related Topics:
Bethlem Royal Hospital - Broadmoor Institution for the Criminally Insane

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It must be noted that the spelling of M'Naghten does tend to vary, especially in the manifold legal writings on the case, where it is not uncommon to see McNaghten, M'Naughten, or a combination of the two.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~