AFTER a last supper of fish, chips, tomatoes and tea, killer Peter Manuel swigged brandy and stepped up to the noose.

Turning to the hangman, he quipped: “Turn up the radio and I’ll go quietly.”

12 Peter Manuel's savage killing spree in the late 1950s led to the coining of the term serial killer

It was July 11, 1958, when Manuel, 31, plunged through Barlinnie prison’s trapdoor into oblivion.

Now detective William Muncie could at last breathe a sigh of relief. After 12 years pursuing Manuel, Muncie had kept up his impeccable police record.

In his obsessive hunt to bring Manuel to justice he risked everything as the killer toyed with him — even visiting Muncie’s home.

12 Chief Inspector William Muncie spent over a decade obsessed with Manuel Credit: Rex Features

Starting on Wednesday, ITV drama In Plain Sight shines a light on their complex relationship.

Manuel killed at least eight people between 1956 and 1958, his savage spree leading criminologists to coin the term “serial killer”.

Their paths first crossed in 1946, when Muncie was sent to investigate a spate of housebreakings in the Mount Vernon and Sandyhills areas of Glasgow.

12 Eventually what Munice had long since suspected was proven true, and he was hung for his murders

Sat in his car after searching a burgled property, Muncie saw Manuel, then 19, walking towards him.

Muncie searched him, finding a distinctive ladies’ watch he knew had been stolen.

The man who would later be dubbed the Beast of Birkenshaw was jailed for 12 months.

The series’ writer, Nick Stevens, says: “Long before anyone else, Muncie saw Peter Manuel for what he was — a psychopath.

“Almost a decade before Manuel’s first murder, Muncie arrested him for a slew of housebreakings.

Manuel never forgave him.”

12 Peter Manuel was one of Scotland's last prisoners to be hung Credit: Rex Features

That wasn’t Manuel’s first brush with the law.

Born in New York, he was five when his family returned to their original home of Birkenshaw, in Lanarkshire.

Aged ten he was known to police as a petty thief, his housebreaking habit landing him in and out of reform schools.

By the time he was 15 Manuel was off the rails completely.

He broke into a young woman’s house, waking her, pulling down her underwear and battering her with a hammer. He attacked several other women before being caught and jailed for nine years in Peterhead prison.

12 New ITV series will tell the gruesome tale, starring Martin Compston as Peter Manuel, pictured with Bobby Rainsbury who plays his sister Theresa Manuel

His first murder was in 1956. He met Anne Kneilands, 17, in East Kilbride on New Year’s Day and took her to a tearoom.

Later he dragged her to a deserted golf course and bludgeoned her to death with an iron bar. He was questioned but released without charge.

In September 1956, Glasgow police were called to a house in High Burnside and found the bodies of invalid Marion Watt, 45, her daughter Vivienne, 17, and Marion’s sister Margaret Brown, 41.

Each had been shot in the head at close range.

At first, Marion’s husband William was the prime suspect. But Muncie was convinced Manuel, out on bail for burglary, was involved.

William, a bakery boss, was held at Barlinnie prison and hired lawyer Lawrence Dowdall to represent him.

12 Manuel killed three members of the Watt family in their own home, leading to William Watt being arrested Credit: Rex Features

Dowdall started getting letters from another Barlinnie inmate — Manuel, who had been jailed for robbing a colliery.

Dowdall later called Manuel “the most vicious psychopath it has ever been my misfortune to meet”.

In a series of notes, Manuel claimed another prisoner had confessed to the murders, including details of the crime.

When Manuel said one of the women had been shot twice — a fact police had not made public — William was freed.

12 Manuel was found guilty of seven of eight murder charges, although some suspect he killed more Credit: Alamy

But a search of Manuel’s parents’ home found nothing.

Muncie’s obsession grew and colleagues joked he had “Manuelitis” — suspecting he was linked to almost any case.

Shetland star Douglas Henshall, 51, who plays Muncie in the ITV drama, says: “Manuel’s case took up a huge chunk of his life and he was derided by some in the force because he was so obsessed. But he knew Manuel was guilty and needed to put him away.”

12 Douglas Henshall plays the cop who was so obsessed by Manuel his colleagues joked he had 'Manuelitis'

The fascination was mutual. Manuel taunted Muncie by leaving clues, even sending him birthday cards. The cop began to fear for his family’s safety.

Martin Compston, 32, who plays Manuel, says: “He dropped birthday cards through his door just to let Muncie know he was close by. It was quite horrific.”

Manuel’s next victim was Isabelle Cooke, 17, who he attacked on December 28, 1957, as she walked to a dance in Uddingston, Lanarkshire.

12 17-year-old Scottish schoolgirl Isabelle Cooke was murdered as she walked to a dance Credit: Getty Images

Then, in the early hours of January 1, 1958, the Smart family — Peter, 45, wife Doris, 42, and son Michael, ten — were killed at home in Uddingston, shot in the head as they lay in bed, just like the Watts.

Afterwards, Manuel munched biscuits, fed the family cat and drove their car around town.

Underworld figures told Muncie’s team Manuel had been seen flashing cash in Glasgow’s East End pubs.

With the help of pub landlords, the money was identified as new notes issued to Peter Smart.

A police raid on Manuel’s parents’ house found items stolen from the Smarts, plus loot from other burglaries. He was arrested and his family quizzed.

12 Police search the river at Uddingston following a triple murder of the Smart family, killed just days after Isabelle Credit: Getty Images

His father Samuel confessed to owning an electric razor stolen in one of Peter’s break-ins. Police charged him with housebreaking.

Despite his shocking crimes, Manuel was loyal to his parents.

To spare his father, Manuel came clean, telling cops: “Bring my mother and father here and I will see them in your presence.

“After I have told them and made a clean breast of it to them, you can take them away and I will clear everything up for you. And I will take you to where the girl (Isabelle) Cooke is buried.”

At the meeting, his mother pleaded: “Tell us everything, Peter. Tell the truth.”

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With tears streaming down his face, Manuel confessed to killing Anne Kneilands, the Watts, Margaret Brown and the Smarts.

He led police to where he buried Isabelle, saying: “I think she is here. I think I’m standing on her.”

Muncie — a veteran of 54 murder hunts, all solved — later spoke of his relief.

He said: “As I stood in the white-tiled cell at Hamilton police station and gazed at the killer of all those innocent people, I remembered how I used to go home and quietly check the front windows and door.”

12 James Manuel attends the Peter Manuel Murder Trial Credit: Rex Features

Midway through Manuel’s 16-day trial he sacked his lawyers to defend himself. Charismatic, well-dressed and his hair neatly gelled, he did an impressive job.

Joe Beltrami, one of Scotland’s greatest defence lawyers, looked on from the public gallery.

He said: “Judge Lord Cameron commented on Manuel’s conducting of his own case after he sacked his defence team.

“Cameron said he was surprised at the standard and skill of the accused and so was I. His cross-examination was quite skilful and well thought-out.”

The unusual move had served him well once before, successfully defending himself at Airdrie Sheriff Court on a rape charge in 1955.

12 The show begins on Wednesday at 9pm Credit: Alamy

But this time the jury found Manuel guilty of seven of the eight murder charges. He was one of the last people executed in Scotland.

Compston adds: “When you look at the story and how he defended himself in court, it’s insanity.

“The sheer brazenness and confidence of the man was astonishing. He was the ultimate narcissist, an evil, evil man.”

- In Plain Sight starts at 9pm on Wednesday on ITV.