It was displayed at the Sensation exhibition of Young British Artists at the Royal Academy of Art in London from 8 September to 28 December 1997.

It was made using casts of an infant's hand to build up a mosaic of black, grey and white handprints, creating a reproduction of the iconic police photograph of a hard-faced Myra Hindley with bouffant peroxide blonde hair taken after her arrest in 1965 (although often reported to have been taken around the time of the trial of the Moors murders in 1966).

"[2] The painting consciously juxtaposes, as Jennifer Friedlander describes it, the tiny handprints of an "innocent child" and the "depraved world of adults", writ large on a gigantic canvas.

[9] Four members of the Royal Academy – Craigie Aitchison, Gillian Ayres, Michael Sandle and John Ward – resigned in protest at its inclusion in the exhibition.

[12] Winnie Johnson (mother of Keith Bennett, one of Hindley's victims, whose body remains missing) asked for the portrait to be excluded from the exhibition to protect her feelings.

[13] The charity Kidscape accused the Royal Academy of "sick exploitation of dead children" in an effort to attract paying visitors to address its financial deficit.

After witnessing this, Rolé left the exhibition, returned with eggs bought nearby, and threw three or four at the painting before being stopped by an off-duty police officer.

(Chris Ofili's The Holy Virgin Mary attracted greater criticism: it was called "sick" and "disgusting" by New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, and white paint was thrown over it.