JAMES REID, THE BRUTAL KILLER FROM CASTLEMILK, DIES IN DUMFRIES PRISON

In November 2011, the criminal justice system was shocked by the death of James Reid, a man infamous for his violent past and known as the 'Face of Evil.' Reid, aged 73, was found deceased within his cell at Dumfries prison, marking the end of a notorious chapter in local crime history. According to a prison source, Reid had been suffering from health issues for some time, and his passing was considered unsurprising by staff.

Reid's notoriety stemmed from his heinous act in 1997, when he was convicted of murdering a four-year-old boy named James Ward. The young victim had left his great-grandmother’s residence in Castlemilk, Glasgow, intending to walk just fifty yards to visit his great-aunt and enjoy a sweet treat. Tragically, Reid, who was heavily intoxicated at the time, attacked the boy with a hammer, smashing his skull in a brutal assault. After the attack, Reid used a ligature to strangle the child before abandoning his body near trash bins in the back court of his great-aunt’s home.

It was reported that Reid had consumed an excessive amount of alcohol in the days leading up to the murder, specifically six liters of sherry over a span of two days. The devastating discovery was made less than an hour after the crime, when James Ward’s great-grandmother, Grace Boyle, along with her sister Margaret, found the boy’s lifeless body. Bloodstains led police directly to Reid’s squalid residence, a place characterized by neglect and isolation, where he lived alone and had no visitors.

Authorities found Reid sitting in a disheveled state, stripped to the waist with his trousers unfastened. The scene was littered with empty bottles of sherry and cans of super lager, evidence of his heavy drinking. Investigators also discovered that Reid had used a newspaper to wipe the blood off the murder weapon, a hammer. His arrest followed a thorough investigation, and he was subsequently tried and convicted after a four-day trial in August of that year.

Locals from Castlemilk expressed their bewilderment over Reid’s actions. One resident remarked, “Jimmy was always steamboats (drunk), but he never really bothered anyone.” Despite his violent crime, the community struggled to reconcile the man they knew with the brutality he had committed. Reid’s death on November 11, 2011, marked the conclusion of a tragic and disturbing case that continues to resonate in the memories of those affected.