Moors killer Brady’s plea for ‘Satanic orgy’ funeral music denied
The child killer wanted a piece of classical music to be played at his cremation, and there were fears his ashes would be scattered on Saddleworth Moor where he and Myra Hindley buried four of their victims.
High Court judge Sir Geoffrey Vos banned his choice, the fifth movement of the Symphony MOORS Murderer Ian Brady will be cremated with no ceremony after his request for funeral music celebrating a ‘Satanic orgy’ was denied by a judge. Fantastique, because it would cause ‘legitimate offence’ to the families of Brady’s victims.
He said council officials must now decide what happens to his ashes. He also said his cremation and disposal of ashes should be carried out in secret, to avoid ‘public disorder’.
The killer died in maximum security Ashworth hospital on Merseyside on May 15, aged 79. Apart from the music, he made no further requests and the judge ordered the cremation to be carried out as soon as possible, with ‘ no music and no ceremony’.
The composer, Hector Berlioz, said the piece depicted ‘a witches’ Sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of shades, sorcerers and monsters of every kind’, which descended into a ‘ diabolical orgy’. Brady and his lover Myra Hindley tortured and murdered five children in the 1960s. Terry West, whose tenyear- old sister Lesley Ann Downey was among their victims, said: ‘As long as it’s not on the moor, I don’t really care. Let him rot.’
Brady had appointed his solicitor Robin Makin as his executor, and asked him to arrange the cremation and the disposal of his ashes.
But Mr Makin refused to reveal his client’s last wishes to the two councils whose areas cover Saddleworth Moor, or to promise he would not scatter the ashes there.
However, he did tell a coroner there was ‘no likelihood’ of that happening.
Lord Justice Vos said: ‘There is undoubtedly real and genuine public anger and distress about what may happen to the deceased’s body.
‘ The families of the deceased’s victims may well be legitimately offended by an insensitive disposal.
‘There is a real public interest in ensuring that the disposal does not create unrest or disorder. The deceased’s wishes are relevant, but they do not outweigh the need to avoid justified public indignation and actual unrest.’
The judge appointed an official from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council in Greater Manchester to dispose of Brady’s remains.
He ordered it should remain secret for up to seven days after their disposal. It is understood they will not be scattered in Tameside council’s area or in Oldham.
Several families of Brady’s victims live in Tameside and Terry Kilbride, whose 12year- old brother John was murdered, said the relatives should decide what happened to the ashes.
‘Brady shouldn’t have any rights after his death,’ he said. ‘His ashes should be in an unmarked grave in the prison grounds, back with his own kind, or thrown into the sea. It shouldn’t be anywhere around Tameside, there are children in different grave- yards around the region here. It’s too late to tell us afterwards, it’s yet another insult to the families.’
The body of a fifth victim, 12-year- old Keith Bennett, has never been found.
Tameside Council said: ‘We know relatives and residents found the suggestion his ashes may be scattered over Saddleworth Moor to be abhorrent and distressing, especially because Keith Bennett has never been found, despite his late mother’s best efforts to locate him.’
‘Monsters of every kind’ ‘Yet another insult’