Myra Hindley

Myra Hindley (July 23, 1942–November 15, 2002), known as the Moors Murderess, was born in Crumpsall in the English city of Manchester. She left school in 1957 to work as a typist for a chemical firm called Millward's. It was at Millward's that she met Ian Brady, a Scottish-born man four years her senior with a history of violence and a string of burglary convictions. They began a relationship in late 1961, and Brady encouraged her to help him with bank robberies. He even asked Hindley to join a shooting club and possess a licensed gun, as he could not obtain a gun licence because he had a criminal record.

Imprisonment

Myra Hindley went to Holloway prison and quickly won many friends claiming she was a reformed character. Myra and her lover Pat Carnes, a prison officer helped her in a failed attempt to break out of nick. Caught and convicted Hindley was sent to Durham and then Cookham Wood prison, where she remained until the day she died.

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In 1982, Lord Chief Justice Lane said that Brady (by now in a mental hospital) should serve a minimum of 40 years behind bars. This would ensure that he stayed in custody until at least 2005 and the age of 67. Brady has since made it clear on many occasions that he never wants to be released. Hindley, meanwhile, received a 25 year minimum sentence which would have allowed her to be released as early as 1990, by which time she would have beeen 48.

Related Topics:
1982 - Lord Chief Justice Lane

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In November 1986, Brady and Hindley confessed to the murders of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett. They were soon on the moors helping police look for the bodies, and the following July, Pauline Reade's body was discovered. But Keith Bennett's body has still not been found.

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Brady and Hindley were never charged in connection with these murders, but Home Secretary Leon Britton soon increased Hindley's minimum term to 30 years, which would keep her behind bars until at least 1995 and the age of 53.

Related Topics:
Home Secretary - Leon Britton

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By now, Hindley claimed to be a reformed character who had acted under the influence of the sadistic Brady. She had turned to religion and had taken an humanities degree with the Open University. A small group of supporters, led by the former Labour MP Lord Longford, began campaigning for Hindley's release. But the majority of the British public was opposed to Hindley ever being released, and the victims' families vowed to kill her if she was ever released. In July 1990, Home Secretary David Waddington listened to what a large percentage of voters were saying and imposed a whole life tariff on Hindley. This meant that she would be kept in prison for the rest of her life without parole.

Related Topics:
Open University - Labour - MP - Lord Longford - David Waddington

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In 1994, a Law Lords' ruling stated that all life sentence prisoners should be informed of the minimum period they must spend in prison before being considered for parole. Hindley, aged 52, now knew that for her a life sentence would mean exactly that. This announcement was welcomed by victims' families and most of the British public, but Hindley was determined to overturn the ruling.

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In December 1997, November 1998 and March 2000, Myra Hindley made appeals to the House of Lords to be released from prison – claiming she was no longer a danger to the public and had been under Brady's influence – but these appeals were all rejected. Hindley's next step was to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

Related Topics:
House of Lords - European Court of Human Rights

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Reports by prison officials and the parole board had all commented on Hindley's progress during prison, saying that she was repentant and no longer a danger to the public. Hindley's hopes of release were given a major boost in May 2002 when the House of Lords ruled that the Home Secretary could no longer overrule the parole board's recommendations that a prisoner should be released. It seemed likely that the Home Secretary would also lose his power to set minimum sentences, and an estimated 270 life sentences prisoners including Hindley – whose minimum terms had been increased by politicians – would be released earlier than expected. Hindley was also one of around 70 life sentence prisoners who had served longer than their original minimum sentence.

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In 2003 Channel Five did a documentary Myra, The making of a monster.

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