Mark Rowntree was a British serial killer who was committed to a mental hospital after he admitted killing four people at random in the town of Bingley in Yorkshire.

Rowntree had a relatively stable upbringing, but apparently he became depressed as a teenager when a girl spurned his request for a date. On December 31 1975, nineteen-year-old Rowntree stabbed to death an elderly widow, then celebrated with a beer at the local pub. A few days later he killed a sixteen-year-old boy at a bus-stop. The victim died in hospital, although was first able to give a description of his attacker to the police.

On the January 7 1976, Rowntree visited a prostitute at her home and stabbed her to death, along with her three-year-old son. By the time he returned home, the police were waiting for him, armed with the description given by the second victim. Rowntree gave a full confession to his crimes and complained that he hadn't managed to reach five victims, the same body count as his hero, Donald Neilson.

Diagnosed as schizophrenic, Mark Rowntree pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Leeds Crown Court in June 1976. He was ordered to be committed to Rampton secure mental hospital for an indefinite period.