True crime: The story of the last man to hang in Scotland

Such was the public outcry at his execution that capital punishment was suspended in Britain two years later and banned in 1969.

Burnett, who was only 21, was hanged just three months after he shot merchant seaman Thomas Guyan, in Aberdeen, in May 1963.

He was sentenced to death despite pleas from Guyan's own grieving mother to spare his life.

Unusually in a capital case Burnett admitted to Thomas's murder but pleaded insanity and the three day trial that gripped Scotland centred around his mental state at the time.

Today in the second of a new eight part crime series the Herald looks back at the case and asks the question? Why was Henry Burnett allowed to die?

Margaret Guyan and Henry John Burnett (Image: Newsquest)

He was a good looking young man who caught the eye of an older married woman at work.

But it was a passionate affair that would end in tragedy.

Henry Burnett had been involved in a love triangle involving Margaret Guyan, 25, and husband Thomas, 27.

The Guyans had married six years earlier, in 1957, and moved into a flat in Jackson Terrace, Aberdeen. 

Their marriage was initially a happy one and in September 1958 they had their first child, a son. 

But Thomas's life at sea meant he was away for long periods and their relationship suffered. 

Margaret had a second child Keith with him in February 1961. But by then the cracks were beginning to show. After a series of rows she asked for a divorce but Thomas refused.

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In December 1961 Margaret took up a job at the Aberdeen fish curing firm John R. Stephen. 

One of her colleagues was the young and good looking Henry Burnett. They soon hit it off and began a torrid affair.

Within a few months Margaret decided to leave her husband for her new lover.

She and Keith set up home with Burnett in Aberdeen's Skene Terrace. But that relationship quickly began to flounder.

Burnett became convinced that Margaret would leave him and go back to Thomas.

So he began locking her in the house whenever he went out. 

By April 1963, Margaret realised she had to leave what had become an abusive and controlling relationship.

She bumped into her estranged husband one day the following month and asked for a reconciliation.

Thomas had never wanted to separate and instantly agreed to her returning to the marital home.

Thomas Guyan and Margaret Guyan (Image: Newsquest)

Margaret then went to Skene Terrace that afternoon, to collect her son and took a family friend, Georgina Cattanagh.

When she told Burnett she was going back to her husband he became angry and began shouting.

In a jealous rage he suddenly pulled out a knife and held it to her throat. 

A terrified Georgina then begged Burnett not to harm her friend.

A few minutes later, Burnett ran out down Skene Terrace, leaving Margaret behind, shaken but uninjured. 

The mum then headed for Jackson Terrace with Keith and Georgina where she thought she would be safe.

However Burnett, full of rage, had made his way to his brother Frank's house in the Bridge of Don area of Aberdeen, where he knew Frank kept a shotgun.

He forced open a gun cabinet and stole the weapon and cartridges before boarding a bus to Jackson Terrace where he stormed into the flat.

A shocked Thomas was shot in the head from point blank range and killed instantly.

Burnett then frogmarched Margaret out of the house to a petrol station in nearby Seaforth Road.

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A customer John Irvine was filling his car with petrol when Burnett - brandishing the shotgun - force him to hand over the keys. As he sped off he bizarrely asked Margaret to marry him and she agreed.

However the police were quickly on Burnett's tail and pursued the car north towards Peterhead. 

After 15 miles Burnett pulled over near Ellon where he was arrested by two officers

At his trial at the High Court in Aberdeen in July that year, Burnett claimed that he was insane at the time 

As part of his defence, Burnett's mother Matilda, 52, spoke on behalf of her son - one of seven children.

He had once threatened his sisters with a knife and signed himself into a hospital after a failed suicide bid.

Two doctors who also gave evidence both considered Burnett insane at the time of the murder.

However the jury were not convinced and took just 25 minutes to find him guilty. 

At the end of the case Margaret told reporters she was still in love with Burnett despite him murdering her husband.

Henry John Burnett (Image: Newsquest)

She added:"I am sorry Tommy had to die but I never knew it would end this way.

"My heart is with Harry. People can talk but I still love Harry.

"I said I would marry him before and I still stand by him."

The death sentence created a public uproar, as there was already a growing demand for an end to capital punishment.

Both Burnett's own family and his victims relatives asked for a reprieve, even sending a telegram to the Queen asking her to intervene.

More than 3,000 people signed a petition calling for clemency.

While eight Aberdeen city councillors protested to then Scottish Secretary Michael Noble. 

Thomas's mother Jeanne Guyan, 54, said at the time: "I don't want revenge. "The last thing I want is that he should die. His death won't bring my Tom back. 

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"When my grief wore off I got to thinking about the boy's mother and my heart went out to her. It was a terrible thing he did but he's only a laddie."

But there was no clemency, the Queen was unable to intervene and a reprieve was denied on August 14, 1963 by Noble.

Burnett reacted calmly as relatives broke the news in Craiginches Prison and told his brother Frank he was ready to die.

He and Margaret were reunited to say their final goodbyes in a 30-minute meeting that same day.

At 8am the following morning, he was hanged as a crowd of more than 300 people gathered outside the jail.

State executioner Harry Allen operated the lever which opened the trapdoor beneath Burnett's feet

The only other witnesses were two local councillors and prison chaplain the

Rev John Dickson.

Mr Dickson had been with Burnett in the condemned cell in the hour before the execution, and after praying with him, held up a cross for him before the traditional black hood was placed over his head.

Forty-five minutes later Burnett was certified dead by a doctor and buried in an unmarked grave within the walls of the prison, as was customary at the time.

The official cause of death was Judicial Hanging - the last time those words were used on a death certificate in Scotland.

Following Burnett's death MP's demanded to know why clemency was not granted by Noble, but no reasons were ever given

Burnett  was one of 34 people hanged in Scotland in the 20th century. 

The argument for capital punishment in his case hinged upon the use of a gun in killing Thomas Guyan.

Murder by firearm was by law a capital offence, in order to deter people from crimes like armed robbery.

The doctors who gave evidence said Burnett's use of the weapon was an impulsive crime of passion and not for profit or any other reason which capital punishment was meant to deter.

In his 1987 autobiography trial judge Lord Wheatley - who had issued the death sentence - revealed that he had been against capital punishment at the time and was glad to see it abolished.. 

It was the first execution in Scotland since 19-year-old Anthony Miller, who was hanged at Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow in December 1960 for the murder of John Cremin in Queen's Park.

Harry Allen - who was paid £15 per execution - later said he had no regrets about Burnett or any of the other people he had executed.

He added:"They've all done wrong,

"They've murdered somebody, they've taken an innocent life and I think it's the right thing to do." 

Craiginches Prison closed permanently in January 2014.

Later that year Burnett's remains were exhumed and taken to Aberdeen Crematorium, where a private ceremony was held.

Retired Glasgow lawyer Len Murray. now 90, is the only surviving solicitor in Scotland with experience of a capital punishment case and says Burnett should never have gone to the gallows.

Murray had been a supporter of capital punishment but changed his mind after representing Tony Miller.

He told the Herald:"The date of Tony Miller's execution has lived with me for the rest of my life.

"There is no evidence from any jurisdication anywhere  in the world that indicates that Capital Punishment is a deterrent.

"The attitude of the day was if you have killed someone you must hang for it.

"However it's not just the offender who is being punished but also his wife, family, and children.

"I am also not sure that the state has got a moral right to take another person's life in any event."