Ian Brady: Taxpayers will foot bill for tribunal

THE taxpayer has been left with a bill of almost £500,000 after Moors Murderer Ian Brady’s failed attempt to convince authorities he is not mentally ill.

A court artists sketch of Brady at the hearing. Picture: Elizabeth Cook

The 75-year-old, whose own costs for lawyers of about £250,000 were picked up by the taxpayer through Legal Aid, brought a Mental Health ­Tribunal against Ashworth ­Hospital, Merseyside, where he is being held.

Mersey Care NHS Trust will also pay £200,000 for its legal fees, meaning the total cost to the taxpayer of his failed bid now stands at around £450,000.

The child killer brought the case after a three-year battle to convince the authorities that he is not mentally ill and should be moved to a prison. Families of his victims criticised the tribunal in June for giving Brady a platform to “grandstand” and the week-long hearing was described as a “circus” as the paranoid schizophrenic killer gave evidence.

The tribunal ruled that he should stay at Ashworth, where he has been held since 1985.

Mersey Care NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, confirmed it will have to pay a £200,000 legal bill, after disputing Brady’s claim that he should be moved back into the prison system.

The tribunal was the first time Brady had been seen in public since the 1980s when he was taken back to Saddleworth Moor in the search for the bodies of two of his five victims.

It was the only time he had spoken in public since being jailed for life in 1966.

Ray Walker, executive director of nursing and secure ­services at Mersey Care, said: “The mental health review ­Tribunal process is part of the legal system and patients ­detained under the Mental Health Act are entitled to one at least every three years.

“Patients are entitled to legal representation. Consequently, the trust must also be legally represented.

“Such representation, both for the trust and the patient, is necessary whether the proceedings take place in public or in private.In this case, the costs, which total around £200,000, are no different as a result of the tribunal being held in public.

“The entire process took almost three years and culminated, unusually, in an eight-day tribunal hearing. This is a legal process and the trust had no option but to comply.

“We feel we should point out the hospital always opposed this being held in public to protect this vulnerable patient from the media spotlight and ensuing highly critical coverage. It is rare for such a hearing to be held in public; indeed, Ian Brady’s was only the second ever.”