Nilsen Rang At All Hours ..And A Patient Stabbed Me With A Kebab Skewer

Disturbing and challenging times in role as a forensic psychiatrist

- Emma Pryer

With a piercing gaze that would leave some people in tears, Connie Mortensen said to a psychiatrist: “Well, don’t you look pleased with yourself?”

Connie’s flaking skin was mottled with bruises and scars. She had tufts of hair missing and a Terminator-esque bloodshot eye.

The opening scenes of TV miniseries Too Close were gripping.

Emily Watson’s character – forensic psychiatrist Dr Emma Robertson – sat down across the table to assess Connie, a woman charged with attempted murder after driving herself and two children off a bridge.

Viewers saw the gripping conclusion of the show last night, but how close is it to real life?

For the past 25 years, leading forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes has worked in maximum-security prisons, secure hospitals, courts and police stations.

She has met notorious killers such as Peter Sutcliffe and Ian Brady but has stayed tight-lipped about the encounters.

In the 1990s she carried out research at Wakefield Prison, known as Monster Mansion due to its infamous inmates.

She later caught the attention of a former inmate – serial killer Dennis Nilsen.

Kerry said: “He took it upon himself to find a number for my private practice and telephoned me at all sorts of strange times.