A simple answer, Lord Longford, yes or no. Do you regret it? Longford ***** 2006 starring Jim Broadbent & Samantha Morton & Lindsay Duncan & Tam Dean Burn & Andy Serkis & Anton Rodgers et al, director Tom Hooper, radio phone-in show
My greatest achievement in life ... I visit prisoners ... The very first thing I would say to Saint Peter. ibid. Longford to visiting group Houses of Westminster
There’s a prisoner in Holloway who specifically asked to see me. ibid. Longford to wife
No human being is beyond forgiveness. ibid.
I just keep hearing Ian’s voice in my head. ibid. Myra to Longford
Lord Longford, how good of you not to disappoint. ibid. Brady to Lord Longford
You can’t go yet. I haven’t finished with ya ... Steer clear of Myra because she will destroy you. ibid.
Without her none of it would have happened ... Listen to the tape ... It was her that insisted they call us Mummy and Daddy. ibid.
If you are forgiven by God, who are we to condemn you? ibid. Longford to Myra
Very few women are criminals in the same sense men are. ibid.
Whatever she has done she is entitled to be considered for parole. ibid. Longford
An alleged escape plot in Holloway and already a prison officer has been charged. ibid. news
Myra Hindley is a good Christian woman. ibid. Lord Longford’s evidence
Well look who it is. It’s Lord Porn. ibid. Brady visit II
She was a cruel sadist. And a brutal killer. ibid. Brady
I read her letters. I found them very interesting. ibid. missus to Longford
Be quiet. Where’s your humanity? ibid. Longford to shouting prisoners
One of the papers say that Myra Hindley was abused. ibid. Mrs Longford
The fear of losing Brady was greater than anything else. ibid.
You really are a tenacious campaigner, Frank. ibid. Home Secretary Willie Whitelaw
Frank, enough. The police have been to see me. Brady has talked to the press about the other bodies. Pauline Reade and the Bennett boy ... He says he knows where they’re buried. ibid. Myra to Longford
I’m going to give a full confession to all five murders. ibid.
I asked you specifically ... I staked my name on this, my reputation. ibid.
He [solicitor] feels, and if I’m honest I agree with him – the campaign you’ve conducted on my behalf has hurt me more than helped me, and we should make this our last meeting ... Goodbye, Frank. ibid. Myra
Julie, radio caller: Do you regret it?
Lord Longford: Not at all ... One of the great blessings of my life ... Forgiving her has been difficult ... For the terrible crimes themselves. Forgiveness is the very cornerstone of my faith ... She has enriched my spiritual life beyond measure ... To love the sinner but hate the sin ... Anyone no matter how evil can be redeemed eventually. ibid.
I really tried to know the God you know ... When we did the first one then you know evil can be a spiritual experience too. You know we only missed it by a few weeks. A death sentence. They abolished it while we were still on remand. Looking back, don’t you think it would have been better for everyone if they’d have just hung us? ibid. Myra to Longford
Only God has the right to take human life. ibid. Longford
Frank Longford continued to visit prisoners until he died in 2001 aged 95. ibid. caption
Myra Hindley was never released. She served 36 years in prison and died in 2002. ibid.
Ian Brady is 68 and currently on hunger strike at Ashworth Hospital, Liverpool. He does not want to be released. ibid.
When will I get parole? I am serving a life sentence. Lesley Ann’s mother
[Brady] opened the door and he said in a very loud voice for him ... ‘Do you want those miniatures?’ I nodded my head to say yes and he led me into the kitchen ... and he gave me three miniature bottles of spirits and said: ‘Do you want the rest?’ When I first walked into the house, the door to the living room ... was closed ... Ian went into the living-room and I waited in the kitchen. I waited about a minute or two then suddenly I heard a hell of a scream; it sounded like a woman, really high-pitched. Then the screams carried on, one after another really loud. Then I heard Myra shout, ‘Dave, help him,’ very loud. When I ran in I just stood inside the living-room and I saw a young lad. He was lying with his head and shoulders on the couch and his legs were on the floor. He was facing upwards. Ian was standing over him, facing him, with his legs on either side of the young lad’s legs. The lad was still screaming ... Ian had a hatchet in his hand ... he was holding it above his head and he hit the lad on the left side of his head with the hatchet. I heard the blow, it was a terrible hard blow, it sounded horrible. David Smith statement
Are some crimes so appalling that their perpetrators should never walk free again? Or can anyone what ever the crime be delivered from evil? Lord Longford confronts Lord Hailsham. David Frost Show
‘I’m not in the least bit interested in kept breathing.’ Moors Murderer: Right to Die? Brady, Ashworth Prison, 1999
‘I am a cottage industry.’ ibid.
Four other youngsters between the ages of ten and sixteen had been abducted. ibid.
The teenager then developed an interest in Nazism. This would become a life-long obsession. ibid.
Brady also introduced Hindley to sadomasochistic sex. ibid.
He’s never expressed remorse for any of the victims ... He had murdered five children. On his arrest he showed not the slightest sign of upset or remorse. ibid.
He remains force-fed twice daily. ibid.
The crimes committed by Moors murderer Myra Hindley shocked the nation. Hindley has been demonised as the most evil woman in Britain. With her lover Ian Brady, Hindley took part in the abduction, sexual abuse, torture and murder of five innocent children. Born to Kill? Myra Hindley, Sky 2005
David had witnessed Ian brutally murdering their fifth victim, Edward Evans. ibid.
10th October 1965 the body of Lesley Ann Downey was discovered. Eleven days later the body of twelve-year-old John Kilbride was also recovered. ibid.
What had turned Myra into a monster? ibid.
Brady became Hindley’s first lover. ibid.
The rift that developed between them was gradual, stemming mainly from their differing responses to their imprisonment. ibid.
In 1970 Hindley broke off all contact with Brady. ibid.
At the age of 60 Myra Hindley died from respiratory failure. ibid.
On 20th November 2002 the body of Britain’s most notorious child killer, Moors murderer Myra Hindley, was taken to Cambridge Crematorium. Myra Hindley’s Prison Years, 2007
During a search of Brady’s and Hindley’s home a ‘left-luggage’ ticket led police to two suitcases. They were to provide horrifying proof of Hindley’s guilt. ibid.
Further evidence led to the discovery of two bodies on Saddleworth Moor: Lesley-Ann Downey and another child twelve-year-old John Kilbride, also sexually assaulted and strangled. ibid.
Holloway Prison: a daring but little-known escape attempt. ibid.
After a string of affairs with other prisoners Hindley was starting to look further afield. ibid.
Hindley was about to come clean, but the revelations would cement her reputation as Britain’s personification of Evil. ibid.
Hatred of the so-called Moors murderers had long been fuelled by suspicions over the disappearance of two more children. ibid.
Hindley, forced into a corner by Brady’s confessions, finally admitted her involvement in the three murders she had been convicted of and those of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett. ibid.
For Hindley there would be no forgiveness or release ever. ibid.
Ian Brady: Britain’s notorious child killer. Sadist, psychopath, and longest serving prisoner. Cutting Edge: Ian Brady: Endgames of a Psychopath, Channel 4 2012
Brady sent a letter which suggested he was about to reveal the secret he has held since the murders: the burial site of Keith Bennett. ibid.
Ian Brady had collapsed in his high secure psychiatric ward and been rushed to hospital. ibid.
Brady continues to provoke intense fascination. ibid.
Brady and Hindley carried out the murders periodically over two years. ibid.
He still attempts to exert power and control over the families of his victims. ibid.
Longford was spearheading a highly public campaign for Hindley’s parole. ibid.
The sinister dimension of his narcissism was never far from the surface. ibid.