I am not insane, vows Ian Brady
Moors murderer Ian Brady tells a mental health tribunal he is not psychotic and symptoms are “method acting”, as he bids to be moved from hospital to prison. But he adds: “I know I am in until death.”
The serial killer was speaking at length for the first time since being jailed for murder in 1966 – and he was not going to let the opportunity pass him by.
In a mental health tribunal to determine whether he could be moved from Ashworth hospital in Merseyside to prison, Ian Brady insisted he was not psychotic, compared himself to figures as diverse as Jack the Ripper and Tony Blair, and recalled mixing with notorious gangsters like the Kray twins while in prison.
In the past, Brady has indicated that he wants to be moved from Ashworth, where he has been held since 1985, because he wants to be able to kill himself in prison. But in an increasingly unfocused performance, the suited 75-year-old refused to go into his reasoning, instead comparing himself to a monkey in a cage.
In prison you are a monkey in a cage being poked with a stick. How can you pretend to be omnipotent? Ian Brady
When asked why he refused to be treated with anti-psychotic drugs, he responded: “I am not psychotic.”
His barrister, Nathalie Lieven QC, asked him directly if he wished to kill himself in prison, and he replied: “I have been asked the question repeatedly. I have answered hypothetically from all angles. In prison you are a monkey in a cage being poked with a stick. How can you pretend to be omnipotent?”
However, he did admit that the point of the tribunal was to assess whether he could be transferred to prison. Brady’s legal team says he has a severe narcissistic personality disorder but is not mentally ill and could be treated in prison rather than hospital. But officials at Ashworth argue that Brady is still chronically mentally ill and remains a paranoid schizophrenic who needs round-the-clock care.
While he is bidding to be moved to prison, the Moors murderer said he is under no illusions about his future.
“I know that I am in until death. I have known from day one that I’m finished… I’m finished. I’ve got no ambitions,” he told the tribunal. Later, he also alluded to having “another plan” for killing himself if he is force-fed in prison, despite earlier dodging the question about suicide.
‘Waste of money’
The brother of one of Brady’s victims has described the tribunal as “a complete waste of taxpayers’ money”. It is expected to cost around £250,000.
Terry Kilbride, the brother of John, who was snatched in November 1963 aged 12, said the money spent on the tribunal should have gone towards finding the body of another victim, Keith Bennett.
He told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “I think all of this is just a complete waste of taxpayers’ money to be honest. He’ll try anything, won’t he, to be in the limelight. He likes to be number one.”
Why are they still talking about Jack the Ripper, after a century? Because of the dramatic background, the fog, cobbled streets. Mine’s the same. Ian Brady
David Kirwan, the former solicitor of Keith’s mother, said: “Including the cost of the court, the judge, the lawyers and all the experts, we’re looking at about £250,000 for the tribunal. Some people will be outraged.”
He went on: “He’s got his wish after 50 years. He’s now got the oxygen of a full blown performance and he’s won.”
Brady and his partner, Myra Hindley, were convicted of luring children and teenagers to their deaths, with their victims sexually tortured before being buried on Saddleworth Moor. The pair were imprisoned in 1966, and Brady was transferred to Ashworth hospital in 1985 after displaying psychotic symptoms.
Mental illness
Eleanor Grey, the QC for the hospital, asked Brady if he accepted he had ever been ill.
“Have you heard of Stanislavsky?” replied Brady. “If you knew who Stanislavsky is… have you heard of method acting? Does that make it clear to you?”
She later asked specifically: “Do you accept you have ever been mentally ill?”
“No,” he said.
He described Ashworth as a “penal warehouse”. In his evidence, Brady also touched on how he has been spending his time in prison and hospital, including as a barber in Wormwood Scrubs in the 1970s and mixing with gangsters like the Kray twins and Buster Edwards in Durham prison. He also shrugged off reports that he talked to himself, saying instead he was reciting Shakespeare and Plato, and adding: “Who doesn’t talk to themselves?”
He also hit out at his treatment, suggesting the staff were collaborating to make up stories about him and describing Ashworth as a “penal warehouse”. On Monday, it was revealed that he eats toast every morning despite maintaining that he is on hunger strike.
He was scornful about the media and the public’s continued interest in him.
“Why are they still talking about Jack the Ripper, after a century? Because of the dramatic background, the fog, cobbled streets. Mine’s the same… Wuthering Heights, Hound Of The Baskervilles,” he said.
Finally, the serial killer explained why he committed his dreadful crimes almost 50 years ago, saying he was a “petty criminal” compared to what he described as the “war crimes” of Tony Blair in Iraq. When asked what value he got from the killings, he replied: “Existential experience”.
