A notorious serial killer known as the Devil’s Disciple is preparing to request his release during a parole hearing following five decades behind bars. Patrick Mackay, now 72 years old, was imprisoned for the murders of two elderly women and a priest in 1975, as well as admitting to eight additional killings, making him one of the longest-incarcerated killers in Britain. The parole hearing is scheduled for March.
Mackay was sentenced for the strangulation of 87-year-old Isabella Griffiths and 89-year-old Adele Price, along with the brutal killing of 62-year-old Catholic priest Anthony Crean with an axe in Kent. Although he initially confessed to eight other murders, he later recanted those statements, leaving those cases unsolved.
At the age of 23, Mackay was convicted of the murders of Isabella and Adele in London. Subsequently, he was found guilty of Father Crean’s murder in Shorne in 1975, where the priest’s body was discovered mutilated in a bathtub filled with blood.
Following his arrest two days after the priest’s murder, Mackay, who now goes by the name David Groves, was sentenced to life in prison for manslaughter due to diminished responsibility. The trial also took into account 24 other offenses, including theft and robbery, with two additional murder charges left unresolved.
In a previous parole attempt two years ago, Mackay was denied release after it was revealed that he had been using drugs. Medical experts identified him as having psychopathic traits, with a history of being sectioned at 16 and later released. He claimed his first murder was in 1973, followed by a series of other killings that he later withdrew his confessions for before trial.
The upcoming parole review for Mackay is set for March 2026, where the Parole Board will assess the risk he poses to the public if released and determine the manageability of that risk within the community.