Infamous Scots. Simon Fraser.

Warning contains sensitive material.

Simon Fraser was a happily married man and a devoted father. He was 27-years-old and doted on his 18-month-old son. At 1am on the morning of 10th April 1878, in their home in Lime Street, Glasgow, he got out of bed and lifting his son out of bed he then swung him around smashing his head against a wall. He did not deny what he had done but told the police that he thought he had been defending himself and his family from a savage creature which was trying to harm his son.

Simon Fraser suffered from somnambulism. This was not the first time that Simon had experienced problems in his sleep, in fact nightmares were a normal occurance. Witnesses at his trial at Edinburgh High Court gave evidence of previous injuries he had caused while fighting off the visions in his nightmares. His father recounted how he had awoken one night to find his 14-year-old son on top of him beating him. His sister also told the court how one night Simon had almost strangled her.

The court was also told about one occasion when Simon had to be pulled out of the sea where he had gone to try and rescue his sister from drowning. She was, of course, safe in bed at home. On another occasion he had pulled his wife out of bed by the legs because he thought he was saving her from a fire.

The foreman of the jury intervened to say that he and his colleagues thought there was little point in hearing any more evidence and that they considered that Fraser was not responsible for his actions. It was then decided that testimony should be heard to determine whether Fraser was sane or not. This would decide whether he went free or spent the rest of his days in an asylum.

Expert testimony was heard from Dr Yellowlees, who considered him insane and from Dr Clouston who though he was not. The jury did not even retire and after a minute or so of whispering amongst themselves returned the verdict that Fraser was not responsible for his actions and that he was sane.

However, even though he had been found not guilty there was still some concern about the fact that Simon may commit yet another serious crime and no-one wanted that. It was rumoured that a compromise was reached over a ‘special arrangement’. The details of the ‘special arrangement’ were never made public but it was reported that during the day Fraser was a free man. At night he slept alone, in a room locked from the outside. His wife kept the key.