Moors murderer Ian Brady launches 'unique' legal challenge

A court artist sketch of Ian Brady at a mental health tribunal in 2013

Moors murderer Ian Brady has launched a "totally unique" High Court challenge for the right to have the lawyer of his choice representing him at a tribunal.

The killer last went before the Mental Health Review Tribunal in Manchester in 2013.

But he lost his bid to be moved from a secure hospital to a Scottish prison.

The 79-year-old had asked to be moved to a prison so he could not be force-fed, and where he could be allowed to die if he wishes.

But Ashworth Hospital in Merseyside said Brady had chronic mental illness and needed continued care at the secure unit.

Solicitor Robin Makin has represented Ian Brady in the past

Brady, who now uses the name Ian Stewart-Brady, refused to take part in a further review scheduled for September last year because his solicitor Robin Makin could no longer represent him.

The High Court case was triggered when a bid to appoint Mr Makin as Brady's representative was blocked because his solicitors' firm, E Rex Makin & Co, is not a member of the Law Society's mental health panel.

Under legal aid rules, only members are entitled to a publicly funded contract in the mental health law category.

Brady's legal team is seeking permission to apply for a full judicial review, insisting the case is "totally unique".

Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were jailed in 1966

They say Brady is "terminally ill" and has been bedridden for the last few years with emphysema.

Brady and Myra Hindley, who died in prison in 2002, murdered five children between 1963 and 1965 in Greater Manchester.

Four of the victims were buried on Saddleworth Moor in the Pennines.

Brady was jailed for three murders in 1966 and has been at Ashworth since 1985. He and Hindley later confessed to another two murders.

In the High Court hearing, Mr Justice Morris said he is likely to give an oral judgment on Brady's application for permission to seek a judicial review on Friday.