True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

(Peter Tobin. Photo credit: kentlive.news) 

When I say the name Peter Tobin, those of you who are from the UK, particularly Scotland will probably recoil in disgust. This is a man (if you could even call him a man) who hit the headlines back in 2007 when he was sentenced to life with a minimum of 21 years for the rape and murder of a young Polish student by the name of Angelika Kluk.

Angelika's murder had shook Glasgow and no doubt the whole of Scotland. People were horrified when they read in the newspapers and saw on the news that this beautiful 23 year old had been so brutally attacked, sexually assaulted and then dumped under the floorboards of a well known church in Glasgow.

Angelika was living in Glasgow, studying and making some money at the church as a cleaner. She would send some of the money back home to Poland to help her family, she lived at the church and would often help out with other things. Unfortunately, the young woman came to the attention of the church maintenance man who was calling himself ''Pat McLaughlin'' and he would watch her from afar.

The church would have coffee mornings and suppers for lonely and homeless people in the community and Pat McLaughlin would often be seen helping out. Pat came across as a nice, polite man but there was always something about him that nobody could put their finger on, he seemed a bit shifty, like he was always nervous or hiding something.

(Left: Vicky Hamilton. Centre: Angelika Kluk. Right: Dinah McNicol. Photo cred: bbc.co.uk) 

The truth about Pat McLaughlin was that his real name was Peter Tobin and ''Pat McLaughlin'' was one of over 40 aliases he used. He had a very dark past and was a very dangerous, sick individual but to the onlooker, he just looked like a frail old man who had a heart condition. He did genuinely have a heart condition (which is probably one of the only things he was truthful about) and would often play on this fact to gain sympathy from others.

The murder of Angelika Kluk pushed Peter Tobin into the spot light but who was he? What was in his past?

As I always do, I will take you back to the start and delve into his background and how he came to be one of, if not the most prolific serial killer Scotland has ever seen.

Before I begin, I want to mention that I will be sharing some disturbing details in this case so please be warned.

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So, let's delve into Peter Tobin's background...

Peter Britton Tobin was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire in Scotland on the 27th of August 1946 and from a young age something wasn't quite right about him. He was the youngest of eight siblings but because he was too much to handle and hard to control, he was sent to an Approved School (a place where delinquent children are often sent to stay as a way for them to learn rules and better behaviour) when he was just 7 years old.

He also spent time in Borstal and his first taste of prison life was in 1970 when he was arrested for forgery and burglary.

Peter had been married three times, his first marriage in 1970 to 17 year old Margaret Mountney lasted a year but Margaret later stated that it was a living hell. Peter was a very jealous and controlling individual who could be very nice one minute and a nightmare the next. Margaret had a puppy that she adored and one day she came home to find that Peter had harmed the poor animal and threw it out of the window as he claimed the dog wouldn't stop yelping.

Margaret would suffer daily torment and sexual assaults and she felt that she couldn't escape. They were living in Brighton at the time and all her family was back home in Scotland. On one horrific occasion, Peter ordered Margaret to have sex with him and when she refused he raped her. After the horrendous assault, he returned to her brandishing a knife which he forced inside of her and sickeningly and sadistically twisted around trying to cause as much pain and suffering to Margaret as he could. He then left her there on the bed bleeding profusely and left the house in which he had kept Margaret as a prisoner.

Margaret lost so much blood that it's a miracle that she managed to survive. She was discovered by the neighbours who noticed the blood seeping through the floor boards. She was rushed to hospital and because of Peter's sick and disgusting act, he destroyed her ability to ever have children as he had damaged a lot of her internal organs. Being a frightened young woman under Peter's psychological control and not knowing anyone in Brighton, shockingly, Margaret was returned to Peter. She did eventually manage to escape from him and Peter told his friends another version of the story to make himself look innocent.

In 1973, he managed to strike up a friendship with a local nurse named Sylvia Jefferies. Sylvia was 30 years old and it wasn't long before a relationship developed which resulted in the pair getting married. It wasn't long before Peter changed from being the nice guy to turning violent and like Margaret before her, she would suffer at the hands of Peter Tobin. Despite the violent marriage, they managed to have two children, a daughter who died not long after birth and a son. It wasn't long before Sylvia managed to escape with her son.

He soon found another partner in the young teenage Cathy Wilson. Cathy had suffered a difficult childhood and was pretty much fending for herself at the age of 16. When she met Peter, she felt like he was a caring, almost father like figure. She later said in interviews that Peter had the ability to zoom in on vulnerable women and act like he was this knight in shining armour that was just there to love and protect them. Once he knew the girls and women's weaknesses, the real him would be revealed.

It wasn't long before Peter began abusing her, throwing her up against the walls and shouting at her. She would blame herself and make excuses for him. One of the heartbreaking things about Cathy's story is that she put up with Peter because she had been so used to being hurt and abused as a child that she had gotten to the point where it was like an everyday thing for her.

Despite the abuse that she suffered she said that there were moments when Peter could be kind and gentle. Cathy fell pregnant with their son in the December of 1987 and they got married in 1989. Like Margaret, Cathy didn't have a support network or anyone she felt she could reach out to for help, she was a frightened young woman who had suffered a tremendous amount of trauma in her short life before and during her time with Peter Tobin.

In 1990, Peter, Cathy and their son moved to Bathgate in West Lothian, Scotland. Shortly afterwards however, Cathy managed to take her son and get away from Peter. She moved back to Portsmouth, Hampshire.

From May 1991 to 1993, Peter lived in a terrace house in Margate, Kent. 

In 1993, Peter decided to move to Havant, Hampshire to be closer to his son. At this point, Cathy agreed that Peter should be allowed to see his son. She said that he was very gentle with his son and wouldn't see any harm come to him but with other people he was cold.

Unknown to anyone at this time, Peter Tobin had already drugged, sexually assaulted, murdered and dismembered two teenage girls who were reported missing in 1991 (I will talk more about them in my coming posts) and had buried their remains in the back garden of his terraced house in Kent (these remains would not be discovered until 16 years after they disappeared).

(A recent picture of Margaret and Cathy. Photo credit: dailyrecord.co.uk) 

Another sickening act would occur on the night of the 4th of August 1993 which led Peter Tobin to be sentenced to 14 years in prison before he was released in 2004 and then just three years later, taking the life of 23 year old Angelika Kluk in a cold hearted and sadistic way.

Continued in part two...