Did Gill Moran suffer Stockholm syndrome?
Psychologists argue that hostages and victims of abuse often suffer Stockholm syndrome, which is a psychological response to trauma and the difficulty they face in the crime scene. The condition develops over time- which varies from days to years- after the victims of abuse or hostages try to bond with their abusers or captors (Karan, Abraar, and Nathan Hansen 122-124). The victims may begin to have weird and negative feelings towards the police officers and other authorities. In the Pottery Cottage Murders, Gill Moran, who is held hostage by Bill Hughes in the crime scene, has some traits that suggest that she could be suffering from Stockholm syndrome. The violent Hughes stubs the police officers and escapes to the Pottery Cottage, where he commits massive murders as he holds Gill of the Moran family hostage. However, Gill behaves abnormally and seems to have confidence in him. The essay will explain whether Gill Moran suffered from Stockholm syndrome based on her actions in the crime scene.
Billy Hughes, a criminal, who is being transferred to Chesterfield, a Magistrates court from Leicester Prison, is charged with knifepoint rape to his girlfriend, and stubbing a man in the face. The criminal requests to use the washrooms, where he schemes to run away from the police officers. He wounds, and stubs the two, handcuffing them together in the minicab back, and he finds a free escape. Hughes drives a taxi after mercilessly dumping the police officers and the taxi driver. He crashes the car and moves towards the north, where he takes a break for a jog. The incident occurs during a snowstorm Hughes jogs for about three hours and then moves to the Pottery Cottage, which has been converted to a residence. In the Cottage, there live two families, the Morans and the Newmans. The family of the Morans consists of five, and each of them appears busy with their activities of daily living. Hughes chooses to focus on the Morans, and this is where he commits more crimes. He secretly kills the four Morans and holds one of them (Gill Moran) as a hostage. Interestingly, Gill is positive about Hughes and seemingly trusts him.
According to De Fabrique, the hostages and battered victims of abuse with Stockholm syndrome often develop a psychological alliance with the captors (De Fabrique 54-55). The hostages form bonds with the oppressing parties as a way of coping with the situation at hand, and is usually the opposite of terror, disdain, and fear prevalent in the victims. The victims also begin to think that they share similar goals with the criminals, and may even hate anyone with attempts to help them out. For instance, when Bill Hughes holds the Morans hostage, he informs them of his escape from the police. However, he promises not to hurt them so long as they do as he orders them. He follows the 72-year-old Arthur, Army’s husband, and father to Gill into the kitchen and hits him. Later after some time, Gill arrives home, and her mother informs her of what had transpired. Billy boastfully talks of how he has stubbed the prison officers claiming that he did not kill them though he knew how to kill. Gill acts calmly when Sarah, her adopted child, arrives from school.
Another instance occurs when Bill Hughes assures Gill of Sarah’s safety. “I would never hurt her.” He claims that he has a daughter called Nichole, who was with her mother at home in Blackpool. Gill is still not alarmed and believes that the stranger would not hurt her child. Bill Hughes promises to leave that night, but he does not. At night, Bill Hughes makes sexual advances with Gill Moran. He unties and forces her to have sex with him as he savagely bit her shoulder. Fortunately, Gill is saved from the torture of rape as she is on her periods. Her husband only listens as she gets tortured, but cannot come to her rescue as he is tied up. Hughes denies Gill from seeing her daughter Sarah and keeps lying to her that she is safe. It is interesting how much Gill trusts everything that Hughes tells her, especially after she experienced his advances at night, and had seen her family get tortured and tied up by their captor.
Hughes forces Gill and her husband Richard to lie to their employers and colleagues that they had the flu and couldn’t make it to work. All this time, Bill Hughes confirms Sarah’s safety to her mother, which she doesn’t question. Gill goes out shopping for the criminal. She brings with her supplies, beer, cigarettes, and also buys papers. She does not take advantage of the time she is allowed out to go and report the matter to the police. She purchases papers that are dominated by Hughes’s pictures, and still, this does not cause any alarm. Gill had several conversations over her phone and failed to let them know that the escaped criminal was holding her family hostage.
For a second time, Bill Hughes sends Gill and her husband for shopping and other supplies. At this time, Richard reveals his indentations to go and report the matter to the police station. Gill is so protective of the criminal. She warns her husband not to dare mention the case to anybody. She insists that she is afraid of her parents and her daughter, who are held hostage at the Pottery Cottage. After they are done shopping and get back home, Hughes puts them all in separate rooms. He takes Gill with him in the car and leaves all others behind. After they set off, Hughes gives excuses as to why he must get back into the house, where he kills the hostages. Gill holds to the idea that her daughter is safe all along.
Finally, Army, Gill’s mother, appears at the windscreen with a deadly wound of her cutthroat and staggers to death in front of her daughter. At this point, it dawns on Gill that her family has been hurt by Hughes. She painfully watches her mother die, but there is nothing she can do. The car fails to start, and the captor forces Gill to ask for help from their neighbors. At this point, Gill mentions about the situation in her family and requests the neighbors to alarm the police. For all this time, it is unclear why Gill remained silent over the issue and, even at some point, warned his brother against making an alarm. Gill is finally rescued from the crazy criminal by the policemen who pursue their car and make several attempts to stop them. Hughes is shot dead in the vehicle as his ruthless efforts to murder Gill fails.
People suffering from Stockholm syndrome may hurt themselves in an attempt to comply and protect their oppressors. Gill, in this case, suffered both emotional and physical torture as she tried to defend the criminal. If she had complied with her brother’s advances to let the police know of the status at their home, she probably could have saved her family. Secondly, Gill should have used the opportunities of moving out for shopping to let the police know that the criminal being hunted down was at their home. From the above illustrations, it can be deduced that Gill Moran had Stockholm syndrome. She believed that Bill Hughes had the same goals as her of keeping her family safe. For instance, he asked her to prepare some soup, which he took to by himself, lying that he had taken it to Sarah. As the police searched in the hose, they found some food onon a plate beside where Sarah laylay dead. Gill also had a positive feeling toward Hughes, who held them hostage.
Work Cited
Holland, Kimberly. “Stockholm Syndrome: Causes, Symptoms, Examples.” Healthline, www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/stockholm-syndrome.
Karan, Abraar, and Nathan Hansen. “Does Stockholm Syndrome affect female sex workers? The case for a “Sonagachi Syndrome.”” BMC international health and human rights 18.1 (2018): 10.
De Fabrique, Nathalie, et al. “Understanding Stockholm syndrome.” FBI L. Enforcement Bull. 76, (2007): 10.