Tribunal adjourns to decide on Brady plea

THE mental-health tribunal hearing moors murderer Ian Brady’s plea to be allowed to transfer to prison from Ashworth Hospital has adjourned.

Judge Robert Atherton said the panel hoped to announce its final decision by the end of the week, with the reasons coming later.

The panel will decide whether he is sufficiently sane to return to prison, where it is believed he will be freer to end his own life, or still in need of round-the-clock care in the Ashworth top security hospital for serious mental illness, as its doctors suggest.

Brady’s barrister questioned whether Ashworth had “lost perspective” in being drawn into a battle with the child killer.

Three independent experts called by Brady’s legal team have concluded he is not mentally ill and his personality disorder can be handled in prison. Officials at Ashworth argue that he is also a paranoid schizophrenic who shows signs of chronic psychosis.

In her closing submission, Nathalie Lieven QC, for Brady, said: “Mr Brady is being treated as a special case — whether that’s because Ashworth has lost perspective and has been drawn into a battle or because of misplaced maternalism, it is not clear,” she said.