Legend and life: "the boyfriend's death" and "the mad axeman."

Folklore, Annual, 1998 by Michael Wilson

The Role of the Media in the Mitchell Affair

At the time of the escape, understandably enough considering Mitchell's history, a great wave of hysteria spread through the country, but particularly around the towns and villages of Dartmoor and Devon. The story hit local and national headlines on Tuesday 13 December 1966 and remained prominent right through the Christmas period and into the New Year. Although it was to some extent superceded in the national press by the Rhodesia Crisis, the story of Mitchell's escape, together with other escapes it seemed to precipitate(3) and the resultant Mountbatten Report on prison security, enjoyed unbroken front page status in the Exeter Express and Echo and the Western Morning News throughout the holiday period.

This extraordinary press attention can be seen to reflect the wide public concern and local hysteria caused by the escape, but it seems equally likely that the press, having little to report in terms of police progress, resorted to giving unprecedented prominence to his mythological qualities and to uncorroborated stories from local residents. Consequently, the reports simply fanned the flames of hysteria.

When the story broke on 13 December the Express and Echo led with the headline, "`Axe Man' believed still on Dartmoor" and the Western Morning News led with the equally sensational, "Dartmoor Hunt for Axe Man. `Lock your doors' warning from police." Even the national press joined in as The Times declared, "Dartmoor Axe-Man Free Again." Indeed, in those early reports all the press seemed to concentrate on two aspects not directly relevant to the escape. Firstly there was the matter of Mitchell's size and strength. The Express and Echo reported that Mitchell, who was "known as the most violent criminal in Britain", was a man of "enormous strength" (13 December 1966). The Western Morning News said that he had "immense strength and is known as the most violent criminal in Britain" (13 December 1966). Both these newspapers quoted a story about how Mitchell had recently shown off his superhuman strength to prison officers by lifting up the front end of a car whilst two of them sat in the front seats. In fact, the image of Mitchell as superhuman or non-human was one that was constantly portrayed by the press. In a front page article on 14 December 1966, The Times described Mitchell as "strong as an ox, but charming too ... and could chop through prison chairs with his bare hands and bend railings."

The second aspect of the early press reports which deserves our attention is the prominence given to Mitchell's Axe-Man image. Mitchell had escaped from secure institutions on two previous occasions. The Express and Echo informed us that during "both his previous escapes he kept couples hostage by threatening them with an axe or hatchet" (13 December 1966). In the Western Morning News the story had already begun to bear resemblances to the contemporary legend. Here it was claimed that "he kept young couples hostage by threatening them with an axe" (13 December 1966). Likewise The Times picked up on the incidents: "On that occasion [his 1957 escape from Rampton(1)] he had attacked several people with a hatchet" (13 December 1966), and, on his 1958 escape from Broadmoor; "he attacked a man with an axe and tried to strangle him and his wife before escaping in their car" (13 December 1966) (my emphasis throughout). These stories, as sensationalised by the press, differ significantly from the version of events previously quoted from John Pearson. This can only be seen as part of the twin processes of demonising Mitchell and blurring distinctions between the reality and the contemporary legend. In fact, the press reporting of the case caused the Governor of Dartmoor Prison who had been responsible for the liberal policy on Mitchell, to make a statement explaining that the nickname "The Mad Axe-Man" was an unfair one, as Mitchell had never actually attacked anyone with an axe, but only threatened to do so (Western Morning News 19 December 1966). Nevertheless, the dehumanisation of Mitchell(5) is very important in comparing the case to the story of "The Mad Axeman." It is also worth noting that in their initial reports on 13 December, both of the local papers made prominent reference to the warnings broadcast by the police, the Western Morning News even alluding to it in their headline. The fact that the police issued a warning through the television that no-one should try and tackle Mitchell is interesting enough, since it can only have added to the public panic. But what is more interesting is the prominence given by the local press, since the broadcast of the warning is a very significant part of the contemporary legend, in terms of both the plot (without the warning the young woman may not have been left alone in the presumed "safety" of the car) and the dramatic tension.