Brady’s ashes dumped at sea on order of court
THE relatives of victims of Moors murderer Ian Brady yesterday said “good riddance” after it was revealed his ashes were scattered at sea.
During his life Brady – alongside twisted lover Myra Hindley – tortured and killed five children in the 1960s.
Brady died, aged 79, in May at a secure mental hospital in Merseyside.
His body was kept in cold storage as the High Court decided on how he should be disposed.
Now it has been revealed on October 25 his body was taken to Southport Crematorium and burned without ceremony or music.
In the early hours of the next mornThe ing his ashes inside a dissolvable salt urn were taken in an unmarked police car to Liverpool Marina.
The urn was put aboard a police launch which left for a secret location at sea where it was jettisoned.
Yesterday Terry West, the brother of 10-yearold victim Lesley-Ann Downey, said: “My little sister didn’t get to choose how she was buried.
“If I had my way, I would just flush his ashes down the toilet.”
Terry Kilbride, 63, whose brother John was three years his senior, confirmed the families were told in advance what was happening to the ashes. He said: “The urn was made of salt and disintegrated after about 10 or 15 minutes in the water.”
Brady died at Ashworth High Security Hospital, but there were fears his ashes would be scattered on Saddleworth Moor.
But last month Chancellor of the High Court, Sir Geoffrey Vos ruled the disposal method should be taken out of his lawyer Robin Makin’s hands. killers’ crimes shocked the nation. Pauline Reade, 16, disappeared on her way to a disco in July 1963.
John Kilbride, 12, was snatched in November 1963 and Keith Bennett was lured into their car in June 1964 while visiting his grandmother. Lesley Ann Downey, 10, was whisked away from a funfair on Boxing Day 1964, while Edward Evans, 17, was hacked to death in October 1965.
Brady and Hindley – who died in prison in 2002 – later confessed to the murders of Pauline and Keith, whose body has never been found.
Pauline’s body was only discovered in 1987 following a search of the moor with her family believing they had laid her to rest after a funeral ceremony. But last summer they were informed an audit at Leeds University “stumbled” across more remains stored for 30 years by Greater Manchester Police.
These included her jaw bone and hair samples.
The police force has now offered to pay for a second funeral.