Moors Murderer Ian Brady 'Refuses' Treatment

Moors murderer Ian Brady is "wholly resistant" to any form of psychological treatment at the high security hospital where he is held, a mental health assessment tribunal has been told.

The child killer is being treated at Merseyside's Ashworth Hospital but wants to be transferred to prison.

The tribunal is examining his claim he is sane and should be allowed to starve himself to death in jail, rather than being force-fed through a tube at the hospital.

Brady's lawyer, Miss Nathalie Lieven QC, questioned Dr James Collins, the clinician in charge of his care, on the fourth day of the hearing.

Dr Collins said Brady has refused medication and therapy for his mental disorders since 2000 as he is "wholly resistant" to any treatment.

But Dr Collins also said away from the "therapeutic milieu" of Ashworth he would relapse into greater schizophrenia if returned to jail.

He was also asked about how a prison would cope trying to look after an inmate like Brady.

"I think they are really going to struggle and I don't have any confidence in their ability to do it. It's very difficult...we really struggle."

Sky’s Nick Martin, reporting on the relayed proceedings at Manchester Civil Justice Centre said Ms Lieven claimed he is "being treated in a way that is not justified".

Martin said: "His lawyer is developing an argument here which is attacking Ashworth's view that Brady is totally paranoid.

"Brady's room is bugged, walls are deliberately thin, his calls are sometimes monitored. His lawyers suggests it's no surprise he's paranoid."

Ms Lieven added that Brady has suffered hallucinations since he was first admitted to Ashworth in 1985.

The tribunal, held at the hospital, heard from Dr Collins that Brady has decades of experience in telling psychiatrists what he wants to tell them.

Dr Collins said: "He's very good at it."

He later added: "Mr Brady remains so disabled by his mental disorders that he needs skilled assistance to maintain any sort of quality of life."

Brady appeared at the tribunal with a force feeding tube visible, due to his long-term hunger strike.

Close confidante Jackie Powell, who acts as Brady's mental health advocate, has been confirmed as being present at the tribunal to assist his legal team in the bid to be transferred from the maximum security hospital to prison.

Last year Ms Powell was arrested on suspicion of preventing a lawful burial over claims she failed to tell police about a letter which may have revealed where one of his victims was buried in the 1960s.

She told a television documentary that Brady had given her a sealed envelope to pass to the mother of Keith Bennett in the event of his death.

The letter was never found and Keith's mother, Winnie Johnson, 78, died soon after the programme was broadcast last August not knowing where her son was buried.

In February, the Crown Prosecution Service ruled Ms Powell should face no action as it could not be established she knew what might have been contained in the letter.

Tribunal judge Robert Atherton confirmed Ms Powell's presence and said: "Her role is to assist Mr Brady's legal team. She is not here as a friend of Mr Brady."

He added he had deliberately not mentioned she was in the room at the start of the tribunal this week because she would not be giving evidence.

Mother-of-two Ms Powell, from Llangennech, near Llanelli, South Wales, has acted as his independent advocate since 1999 and is understood to visit Brady at Ashworth on a regular basis.

Brady and his partner, Myra Hindley, lured children and teenagers to their deaths, with their victims sexually tortured before being buried on Saddleworth Moor.

Pauline Reade, 16, disappeared on her way to a disco on July 12 1963 and John Kilbride, 12, was snatched in November the same year.

Keith Bennett was taken on June 16 1964 after he left home to visit his grandmother; Lesley Ann Downey, 10, was lured away from a funfair on Boxing Day 1964; and Edward Evans, 17, was killed in October 1965.

Brady was given life at Chester Assizes in 1966 for the murders of John, Lesley Ann and Edward.

Hindley was convicted of killing Lesley Ann and Edward and shielding Brady after John's murder, and received a whole life tariff. She died in hospital still a prisoner in November 2002 at the age of 60.

Brady was moved to Ashworth in 1985 as his mental health deteriorated and has been on hunger strike since 1999.