From the very start of Hardy's life, it can be seen that there was a violent streak in him, something that would later come to haunt him and Manchester due to what could seem like a random attack, which was rather years of pent up anger after being in prison for 2 years. His pent up anger led to erratic behaviour with no specific precision but rather blunt force, Hardy can be seen through a semiotic representation of his murders as an impulse murderer. The only reason that Janet Stewart had been killed was due to her being mistaken for Hardy's then ex-girlfriend and without any specific plan of how to handle the situation he slashed her throat before realising that his impulses had led to the death of an innocent teenager. It can further be seen through semiotics that he was erratic through his methods of hiding her body, only covering her enough for her not to be seen and returning at a later date when he had a plan. This creates the impression that Hardy could not control his emotions and would act impulsively on what he believed to be the right decision before realising afterwards that he was wrong and because of this he would panic and make mistakes such as creating shallow graves.
Due to his victims being females it can be analysed that he may have had a traumatic experience with women prior to his incarceration. This is apparent due to his feelings of rejection from his previous girlfriend Beverley Driver and it can be seen that this can be a trigger point for his uncontrollable violence towards females with newspapers describing him as "sexually motivated" (Myall, 2018) It would be more accurate to say that his behaviour from a psychological perspective is contradictory with him being emotionally unstable and erratic then to gloat to Colin Hardy about the murders and want notoriety, it questions the character of Hardy with there being two contrasting semiotic interpretations. On the one hand, he can be seen as a murderer who is proud of his murders and brags of his killings. This creates the image that the newspapers gave to him of a monster who is proud of what he does. In turn, his representation through some of his actions do represent him in this way and
it can be seen to be emphasised by his removal of his own defence barrister it highlights to the press narcissistic traits which in itself is a personality disorder. The side that Hardy showed to the newspapers was that of a cold-blooded killer, which in many interpretations he is and his semiotic representation shows as such.
On the other hand though, it can be seen as his motives are based upon his own mental disabilities with his actions were due to impulses that he may have learnt as a child (Being violent and from a violent household) as well as the erratic behaviour leading to him realising his mistakes only after his crimes had been committed. This representation is not seen within the press and requires the viewer to find said meaning which is hidden beneath the surface(Barthes, 1977). When looking at his behaviour rather than his representation by the press, it all points to erratic emotional instability. This can be used to explain his murders. His first on Janet Stewart was pent up anger against his prior girlfriend and his panic and regret afterwards led him to bury her to give him time to make a plan after the mistake that he had just made. The fact that he killed his second victim, Wanda Skala with a brick shows improvisation and a lack of a plan which shows that the murder was based off impulse and it wasn't premeditated or targeting. Further, with his final murder on Sharon Mosoph, his murder was based off being caught in the act of attempting to break into her place of work and after realising he left evidence on the body after putting her body in the canal he jumped in with a last-ditch effort to remove evidence. This can be seen to represent Trevor Hardy semiotically as someone with erratic behaviour that acts upon his impulse and then thinks of the consequences afterwards. His motive is that of the said impulses and emotional instability and it led to the death of 3 teenagers before his arrest
Overall, while it can be said that through a deeper semiotic representation of Hardy's action it can be seen that he is plagued by impulses and mental illness which caused him to act upon said impulses, there can be seen to be accurate within the newspaper representations of him due to the fact that his own narcissism could also be seen to be a driving factor in his murders in the aim of infamy with the title 'The Beast of Manchester' it could be argued that this title is what he wanted and through gloating to his brother and taking on GMP himself, he almost wants to be infamous and a villainous character and for the crimes he committed there were semiotically narcissistic elements of them and due to this there can be seen to be an understanding for the disliking and the happiness surrounding Hardy's arrest due to his cocky attitude and deserved sentence in prison.
( Trevor Hardy, The beast of Manchester (Image: Daily Mirror: Manchester)
it can be seen to be emphasised by his removal of his own defence barrister it highlights to the press narcissistic traits which in itself is a personality disorder. The side that Hardy showed to the newspapers was that of a cold-blooded killer, which in many interpretations he is and his semiotic representation shows as such.
On the other hand though, it can be seen as his motives are based upon his own mental disabilities with his actions were due to impulses that he may have learnt as a child (Being violent and from a violent household) as well as the erratic behaviour leading to him realising his mistakes only after his crimes had been committed. This representation is not seen within the press and requires the viewer to find said meaning which is hidden beneath the surface(Barthes, 1977). When looking at his behaviour rather than his representation by the press, it all points to erratic emotional instability. This can be used to explain his murders. His first on Janet Stewart was pent up anger against his prior girlfriend and his panic and regret afterwards led him to bury her to give him time to make a plan after the mistake that he had just made. The fact that he killed his second victim, Wanda Skala with a brick shows improvisation and a lack of a plan which shows that the murder was based off impulse and it wasn't premeditated or targeting. Further, with his final murder on Sharon Mosoph, his murder was based off being caught in the act of attempting to break into her place of work and after realising he left evidence on the body after putting her body in the canal he jumped in with a last-ditch effort to remove evidence. This can be seen to represent Trevor Hardy semiotically as someone with erratic behaviour that acts upon his impulse and then thinks of the consequences afterwards. His motive is that of the said impulses and emotional instability and it led to the death of 3 teenagers before his arrest
Overall, while it can be said that through a deeper semiotic representation of Hardy's action it can be seen that he is plagued by impulses and mental illness which caused him to act upon said impulses, there can be seen to be accurate within the newspaper representations of him due to the fact that his own narcissism could also be seen to be a driving factor in his murders in the aim of infamy with the title 'The Beast of Manchester' it could be argued that this title is what he wanted and through gloating to his brother and taking on GMP himself, he almost wants to be infamous and a villainous character and for the crimes he committed there were semiotically narcissistic elements of them and due to this there can be seen to be an understanding for the disliking and the happiness surrounding Hardy's arrest due to his cocky attitude and deserved sentence in prison.
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