Purcell laughing on bus 10 minutes after killing boy

Published on 05/10/2007 14:13

JACK ANDERSON'S killer was caught on CCTV laughing and joking with his accomplices as he made his getaway from the scene of the crime.

The crucial video footage showed Isaac Purcell, along with his younger brother Michael and friend Patrick Nolan, on a bus from Gorgie Road to Sighthill.

The trio were clearly sharing a joke - just minutes after Purcell had killed the ten-year-old by mowing him down on a pedestrian crossing.

Police said he has never shown any remorse for the crime - despite the letter he sent to Jack's parents, Michael and Yvonne - and pointed out that he sped off without slowing for a second to see how the child was.

Det Supt Craig Naylor, who led the murder inquiry, said: "I suppose a cynic might say he was looking to prepare for the court case.

"This is someone who showed no remorse in his interaction with the police into the death of Jack Anderson.

"He was upset, but I think he was more upset at the situation he found himself in.

"He knew we were looking for him and he knew he had been involved in the death of a child."

Purcell's father Michael contacted the Evening News in the run up to the trial, offering to provide a copy of the letter his son had written, in an effort to gain an element of public sympathy for him.

Purcell has three convictions for dangerous driving, one for drink-driving and three for driving while disqualified. He was also convicted of robbery in 1995.

He comes from a family of travellers, and had spent most of his life flitting from one place to the next, living in caravans and sleeping on people's floors.

Police said he had always gone "where the moment took him", having a large extended family with whom he could stay around the country.

In the days before he killed Jack, he had been staying on a caravan site in the Stirling area. Police believe he travelled through to Edinburgh specifically "to commit crime".

He had a number of aliases - including Michael Whitehead. He was born in Newry, in Northern Ireland, and had four of his children with his ex-wife, as well as a toddler and new baby with his current girlfriend.

He travelled across the UK with his family during his childhood and adult years, and had also spent "extensive periods" in the US and in Australia - something which worried police when they were hunting for Jack's killer.

Recently, he had spent time living in a caravan in the driveway of his father's home in Cheshire.

His dad, called Michael Purcell like his brother, had become more settled in recent years and had been living in a house instead of travelling.

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