INSANE KILLER OF TODDLER LUKE SENT TO CARSTAIRS
The killer of four-year-old Luke Gargan was declared insane yesterday - and ordered to be locked up without limit of time.John Gourley, 35, snatched the youngster from his mum's bed, took him to remote woodland and battered him to death with a garden tool.
The High Court in Glasgow was told the little boy was almost decapitated by the savage attack.
He died instantly.
Gourley - who claimed to be driven by voices - was yesterday found not guilty of the murder by reason of insanity.
Luke's mother Brenda - who was engaged to Gourley at the time of the killing - broke down in tears as her son's injuries were revealed in court.
A massive police search was launched after Luke was reported missing from his home in Cunningham Road, Saltcoats, Ayrshire, on March 10.
Later that day, Gourley, a storeman, confessed to the killing and led police to Luke's almost naked body.
He claimed he was trying to protect Luke and his mum from people who were 'out to get them'.
And he told police: 'I took him to a place that he kind of showed me to.
If I hadn't done it, they would have taken him.' The court heard Luke had climbed into bed with his mum and Gourley hours before his death.
Brenda Gargan, 22, was suffering from toothache and left the bed during the night to try to rest in another room.
When they were alone, Gourley took Luke out of the house, put him in the back seat of his car and drove him to the woods in Castle Semple Park, near Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire.
In a derelict building there, he battered Luke to death with a garden tool, believed to be a half moon lawn edging tool.
The court was told Luke's spine was severed and there were severe cuts to his back, neck, shoulders and chest.
Gourley returned home after the killing and pretended to find the boy's bed empty.
He even went to get his son from a previous relationship, also called John, to help search for Luke.
But the court heard a newspaper boy had seen Gourley get in his car around 6am and put 'something' in the back seat.
Police questioned Gourley 14 hours after the boy's death, when he finally confessed.
He later took officers to Luke's body, which was lying on a floor partially covered with an old blanket.
A psychiatrist who examined the accused said he appeared to be under the impression he was protecting Luke and his mother from people who 'were out to get them'.
Dr John Baird, 53, a consultant forensic psychologist at Glasgow Health Board, said Gourley had described how he had seen garden forks pointing upwards shortly before the killing and believed they had a special significance.
The doctor told the court: 'This is a classic example of a psychotic phenomenon.
Some individuals are unable to stop such hallucinations.' Dr Colin Gray, 44, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at Carstairs, said: 'When I examined Mr Gourley, his thinking was disordered.
I felt his condition likely to be schizophrenia and I am of the belief he did not understand his actions at the time.' He said Gourley, who has been in the State Hospital at Carstairs since his arrest, had since undergone treatment and was 'making some progress'.
In instructing the jury to acquit Gourley, Lord Prosser said: 'Even in a case when a person commits a crime such as murder, if they are insane at the time the law does not hold them responsible.
The prime issue in this difficult and unusual case is whether there is an issue of insanity and you have heard two expert witnesses say that this was so.' Gourley glanced at Luke's mum Brenda who was sitting in court surrounded by her family and she wept as he was led off.
