David McNeil

Posted: March 2, 2026

SUNDAY Mail picture editor DAVID McNEIL died on February 17 [2026], aged 80. A celebration of his life will follow a funeral service which will take place at noon at Bishopbriggs Crematorium, Glasgow G64 2PZ, on Thursday, March 5

DAVID McNeil was a former picture editor of the Sunday Mail, and one of Scotland’s most versatile press photographers. As chief photographer he covered major stories of the day including Northern Ireland, the wedding of Charles and Diana, the funeral of Princess Grace in Monaco, and sporting events from Wimbledon finals to Old Firm football clashes.

David also became well known for the stoic care he provided for his journalist wife Melanie Reid, who was paralysed after a horseriding accident in 2010. David appeared regularly in her weekly “Spinal Column” in The Times as she wrote about coming to terms with their upended lives. He later confided that his tough upbringing in Glasgow, and career in the melting pot of Scottish newspapers, had not prepared him for what was to come.

David McNeil was born in Glasgow in 1945. He attended school in Hyndland and joined the Boys’ Brigade where he learned the bagpipes. After training as a commercial artist, he became the official photographer for Rangers Football Club and travelled with the team across Europe.

He joined the Sunday Mail in 1977, and graduated to picture editor in 1988 when the paper was at the height of its success, and read by more than half of the population of Scotland. His charm and humour dominated his professional career. David drew people towards him because of his uncanny ability as a comedian and mimic. And no one was spared his talents. He was busy impersonating his editor in the office pub one evening — The Copy Cat — when in walked said editor Jim Cassidy, who appeared behind him as David was going through his routine. But even Jim appreciated the joke… eventually regarding it as a compliment.

David and Melanie met on the Sunday Mail when she joined as a feature writer. She described him as “irresponsible, irresistible, incorrigible and flirtatious”, and they married in 1996, setting up home in an extended cottage with land, paddock and stables in the Trossachs above Loch Lomond.

There he was to become an expert drystone dyke builder, and with two Sunday Mail colleagues, David Robertson and Alex Scotland, set about building a nine-hole golf course behind the property.

David developed Alzheimer’s towards the end of his life, and the caring role he had provided for Melanie was reversed. He died in Forth Valley Hospital on February 17 from a chest infection. He is survived by Melanie, and by his son Stephen and daughter Gillian from his previous marriage to Liz.