3-year-old Brian Howe was found covered with grass and purple weeds. He had been strangled. 

Nearby, a pair of broken scissors lay in the grass. There were puncture marks on his thighs, and his genitals had been partially skinned. Clumps of his hair were cut away. 

The wounds were bizarre and inspectors said there was a terrible playfulness about it.

Brian’s belly had been signed "M" with a razor blade. 

Brian Howe was buried on August 7th, 1968. Detective Dobson was there: "Mary Bell was standing in front of the Howe’s house when the coffin was brought out. I was, of course, watching her. And it was when I saw her there that I knew I did not dare risk another day. She stood there, laughing. Laughing and rubbing her hands. I thought, My God, I’ve got to bring her in, she’ll do another one."

The day before her 11th birthday, Mary Bell strangled Martin Brown, another young boy, in a derelict house. She was believed to have committed this crime alone. 

Between that time and the second killing, she and a friend, Norma Joyce Bell (no relation), aged 13, broke into and vandalised a nursery in Scotswood, leaving notes that claimed responsibility for the killing. The police dismissed this incident as a prank.

On 17 December 1968, Norma Bell was acquitted but Mary Bell was convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

In 1980 and when aged 23, Bell was released, having served 12 years, and was granted anonymity to start a new life with her daughter.