Police and family have been barred from opening Brady’s suitcase of secrets for decades … now new law gives them the key
Alan Bennett says a new Parliamentary Bill will help him finally find the body of his brother, murdered by monsters Ian Brady and Myra Hindley more than 60 years ago.
Brady, the madman who harvested and murdered children with his evil girlfriend Hindley, played a heart-breaking game of cat-and-mouse with the families of their victims, taunting and tantalising them from behind bars.
None more so than Alan Bennett, the brother Keith who was spirited away, abused, murdered and buried in a howling make-shift grave on the Moors above Manchester.
Last year Alan met with the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, to discuss the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Part of it is designed to force people and organisations to reveal all relevant information to police.
He and many others have been battling for years to get Liverpool solicitor Robin Makin to open two briefcases entrusted to him by Moors murderer Ian Brady just before he died.
It is possible the briefcases, kept securely in storage, could contain clues to where Brady and his Hindley buried the body of Keith, who was 12 when he was snatched by the pair in Ashton-u-Lyne.
Alan said: “The law to allow police access to possible withheld information that may help in cases such Keith’s has passed through Parliament and will receive Royal assent. The clauses on human remains were agreed exactly as they were drafted.
”Great news for our family and for other families in the same horrendous, heart breaking and ridiculous position we found ourselves in.
“We now have real hope that the police will be able to overcome the obstacles to gaining access to information that had been placed in their way for far too long by certain uncaring, heartless, cold, cruel, insensitive and soulless people.
Thank you all for your support and care during this long battle for justice.
“Of course it is our never ending hope that something may be found that could give us the final piece of information needed to bring Keith home but it will also be a legacy from Keith that others in a situation such as our family will find some answers as well.”
However, responding to the passing of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s CEO, said: “This is dark day for civil liberties in the UK. This deeply-authoritarian Bill places profound and significant restrictions on the basic right to peacefully protest and will have a severely detrimental impact on the ability of ordinary people to make their concerns heard.”
The truth about what Brady and Hindley horrify did way back in the Sixties still horrifies the world.
And still today the families of victims are haunted by the secrets the evil pair of child killers have kept and the twisted games played from beyond the grave.
Not least of course is the continuing search for Keith Bennett’s body on the bleak moors above Manchester.
Surely, this must be Brady and Hindley’s most prolonged and agonising legacy?
But we must not forget the agonies of the family of Pauline Reade who was 16 when she disappeared on her way to a disco.
Think of it, she disappeared on July 12, 1963. And only now her family might be finding some kind of peace.
Let’s be honest, the true horror of having parts of your daughter’s body found in a dusty storage room at a university more than half a century after her murder is unimaginable.
Alan Bennett had this to say about Pauline. In so many ways it is a message of positivity.
Alan wrote: “On this day ( July 1st ) in 1987 the body of Pauline Reade was discovered and brought off Saddleworth Moor, 24 years after Pauline had been murdered and buried on the moor by Brady and Hindley.
“After being returned to her family Pauline’s mum, Joan, told us that ‘It was like a big dark cloud had been lifted off my shoulders.’ Joan found some small peace of mind eventually and the change in her life after Pauline was found was so very good to see.
“I met Pauline’s immediate family and I can honestly say that Pauline’s mum, Joan, who I met and got hugs from on quite a few occasions, was one of the nicest, gentle and sincere people I have ever met.”
The brother of ‘lost boy’ Keith Bennett had posed the question – how can police be denied access to secret documents about a murder case?
Alan Bennett said: “How can any information be seen as anything other than essential to an investigation?”
It is possible the briefcases, kept securely in storage, could contain clues to where Brady and his monstrous lover Myra Hindley buried the body of Keith, who was 12 when he was snatched by the pair in Ashton-u-Lyne,
Backing the move, Alan said: “I am really confident that the part of the Bill that is of specific interest to me – and will be to other victims and their families in the future – regarding the case of Keith will not be challenged.”
Relatives have demanded that the cases should be opened and access to the hidden papers given.
Police say they want access to the Samsonite briefcases which Brady kept locked in the bedroom at high security hospital Ashworth Prison in Maghull.
He spent most of his life locked up.
Solicitor Mr Makin rarely comments on the cases.
But a district judge sitting at Manchester Magistrates’ Court had refused a police appeal to access the cases because Brady and Hindley are dead so there is no chance of a prosecution.
I have an update after contacting the Home Office again today for answers as to what happens next after the Police, Crime, Sentencing And Courts Bill was passed after the second reading yesterday.
Alan said: “The Bill will move on for more detailed scrutiny and MP’s will be able to propose amendments and some may be voted on in later debates.
“It is hoped the Bill will receive Royal Assent by the end of the year.
“I have to admit that the timescale is longer than I expected/hoped for but at least things are in motion and moving in the right direction after years of arguing for justice for victims and families as opposed to the perpetrators and their representatives having more rights than the victims and families.”
Alan said: “Keith’s story will be known to many, but what may not be known is the struggle which our family has gone through to try and seek closure.
“I have fought long and hard on behalf of my brother to bring about the necessary changes and to ensure his case is not forgotten.
“I want to ensure a positive legacy for Keith, so I was pleased to meet with the Home Secretary and to hear about the work being done to support my endeavours.”
Priti Patel said: “I can only imagine the years of pain and turmoil that the Bennett family have faced following Keith’s tragic murder – no family should have to suffer the heartache of not knowing where their loved ones are buried.
“I am determined to give police the powers they need to access all available evidence and hopefully bring some closure to families in cases like these.”
We should never forget these names, names forever linked with true horror:
Pauline Reade
John Kilbride
Keith Bennett
Lesley Ann Downey
Edward Evans
#murdermostfoul #hindleyandbrady #myraian #saddleworthmoor #lostboy #keithbennett #moorsmurders #pritipatel #Pauline Reade #John Kilbride #Keith Bennett #Lesley Ann Downey #Edward Evans #ianbrady #myrahindley #moorsmurders #saddleworth
What a Heartless stupid district court judge. No wonder there are puzzling decisions from these courts when this is an example of their judgement. The dead perpetrators of crime are better protected than their live victims!
Well said Paul, the problem is the law needed changing to allow things to happen!
I absolutely agree with you. Time to get rid of ridiculous judges who are not fit for purpose because, as in this case, he did not have sympathy for the families of the victims, he was a control freak thinking only of his own self importance.