Moors murderer Ian Brady ‘had sex with young inmate’ while mixing with vulnerable borstal boys in Wormwood Scrubs prison for more than five years, Home Office files reveal
- Child killer was moved to the prison hospital after going on hunger strike in 1975
- Despite regaining his weight, Brady remained on the wing for another five years
- While there, he mixed with borstal boys as young as 15 with mental health issues
- Brady was finally moved off the wing after a young inmate claimed they had sex
Ian Brady (pictured) murdered five children aged between 10 and 17
Moors murderer Ian Brady had sex with a young inmate while mixing with vulnerable borstal boys for more than five years at Wormwood Scrubs prison, files reveal.
The child killer was moved to the prison hospital after going on hunger strike in 1975, but despite soon regaining weight he remained on the wing for another five years.
Within a year, a medical officer noted how Brady had taken ‘an unusual interest in any adolescent inmate who may be located on the landing’.
But despite this warning, Brady was allowed to mix with boys from Feltham Borstal, who were sent to the wing if they were suffering from mental health problems.
Some of the boys receiving treatment on the wing were as young as 15, a similar age to some of Brady’s Moors Murders victims.
Brady was finally moved off the wing in 1981, several months after a young inmate alleged that Brady had had sex with him.
The BBC said it had seen Home Office files that also showed Brady also received support from Lord Longford, a former Labour cabinet minister and penal reformer.
Brady was transferred to Wormwood Scrubs in 1974, eight years after he was convicted of the murders of Lesley Ann Downey, 10, and Edward Evans, 17 – two of the five youngsters he killed with girlfriend Myra Hindley.
After being placed on the segregation unit the killer is said to have gone on hunger strike, to force officers to move him and allow him to associate with other prisoners, and he was eventually placed on the prison’s Mental Observation Landing.
Brady was transferred to Wormwood Scrubs (pictured) in 1974, eight years after he was convicted of the murders of Lesley Ann Downey, 10, and Edward Evans, 17
Despite eventually regaining weight, Brady was allowed to stay on the wing.
A record from September 1976 shows suspicions had been raised by his ‘unusual interest in any adolescent inmate’ and staff had to move the boys away from him.
In December 1977 Brady reportedly wrote to Lord Longford to complain that the prison’s principal medical officer had told the governor he should return to segregation. The child killer remained on the wing.
In March 1978 the prison’s senior medical officer (SMO) is said to have expressed concerns about Brady’s residence in the hospital and his contacts with vulnerable prisoners.
Brady was reportedly allowed to watch television with other inmates and given duties including cleaning toilets and showers.
He is said to have lost his duties in autumn 1981 after a young person reported that Brady had had sex with him.
Home Office files that also showed Brady received support from Lord Longford (left), who also swapped letters with Brady’s lover and co-murderer Myra Hindley (right)
He was moved to Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight the following year.
Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said Brady’s high-profile support contributed to an ‘extraordinary set of circumstances’.
She told the BBC: ‘What happened, and what he did in prisons, I think, is not extraordinary. Actually, I think it happens and has happened every day for years, and is still happening.’
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: ‘There have been huge changes in the criminal justice system in the last 40 years and allegations of sexual assault are taken extremely seriously and reported to the police.
‘Boys under 18 are placed together in youth custody and those aged between 18-21 are held either in young offender institutions with their own age group, or in designated cells or wings in the adult prison estate.
‘We are conducting a review into safeguarding in the youth estate to further improve the welfare of those in our care.’
How five victims were snatched from markets and fairs before being murdered in the most brutal ways
Pauline Reade , 16, was the couple’s first victim
- Pauline Reade, 16, was the couple’s first victim. She was on her way to a local dance when Hindley persuaded her to get in her car. They drove Pauline to Saddleworth Moor where she was raped Pauline, beaten and stabbed.
- John Kilbride, 12, was snatched from Ashton market on Saturday November 23, 1963. He was strangled and buried in a shallow grave. He was the second of Brady and Hindley’s five victims.
- Keith Bennett, 12, disappeared on the way to his grandmother’s house. Hindley had lured him into her car and driven him to the Moors where he was murdered. The method of killing has never been made clear. The pair buried his body which has never been found.
- Lesley Ann Downey, 10, disappeared on Boxing Day. She had been snatched from the fair and taken back to Hindley’s house. She was brutally assaulted with the ordeal captured on tape.
- Edward Evans, 17, was the sick duo’s final victim. He had just been to see Manchester United play when Brady lured in Edward. Brady repeatedly bludgeoned Evans with an axe
John Kilbride (left) , 12, was snatched from Ashton market on Saturday November 23, 1963. Keith Bennett (right), 12, disappeared on the way to his grandmother’s house
Lesley Ann Downey (left), 10, disappeared on Boxing Day, while Edward Evans (right), 17, was the sick duo’s final victim
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