A natural Scientists scan the brain of a man who served 43 years in prison to discover what makes a murderer
MOST people’s idea of a psychopath would be someone like John Massey.
Thrown out of a pub one night, he returned with a shotgun and blasted a bouncer to death at point blank range.
The 27-year-old gangster then became one of Britain’s longest serving prisoners – 43 years inside after escaping three times.
Now 71, he has had a brain scan and other tests for a TV show to find out exactly what drove him to kill all those years ago.
Chillingly, doctors found his genes may have made him more likely to murder.
And brain defects meant he lacked fear and empathy.
Coupled with a painful childhood in care, Massey possessed a perfect storm of risk factors for committing the most heinous of crimes, psychologists say.
Brawl
The scan revealed he had a small amygdala – part of the brain that controls emotion like fear.
Prof Adr i an Raine, a neuro- criminologist who has studied the brains of convicted killers across the world, said: “If the amygdala is shrunken you become a fearless individual.
“In John’s life, that’s of significance. Sticking a gun in someone’s chest – you’ve got to have a certain lack of fear to be able to do something like that.
“And the amazing thing is that shrunken amygdalas are also found in psychopaths.”
The scan also revealed an enlarged striatum, which makes up the reward system in the brain. Prof Raine went on:
“John’s “John actions were partly driven by a brain b that was always seeking rewards. rewa The ultimate reward for John that night was revenge.”
DNA DN tests showed Massey also has a gene that blunts stress.
After A establishing t he impairments, impa the experts were keen on seeing whether childhood traumas trau may have acted as an environmental envi trigger.
He H was abandoned by his mother at an early age as she struggled to bring up six kids.
Massey said: “I remember my mum taking me to my first children’s home. I was set up to ride a red tricyle round the garden. By the time I completed p the circuit my mum um had gone. I screamed blue lue murder.
“They had to drag g me into the house. I just wanted to run down the road and find my mum.
“When I was s there I resented every ry minute of it. I can’t an’t recall any happy times.” mes.”
Massey ended up ib in borstal t l then became a bank robber. In 1975 he was having a night out with pals at a pub disco in London’s East End when they got into a row r with fellow drink drinkers.
A brawl ensued w with doormen in w which an associate w was glassed in the face before they l left the club.
Bent on revenge, M Massey’s mob gr grabbed handguns and shotguns and returned t dt to the pub, The Cricketers in Clapton.
“We wanted to bring them back