Ian Brady claimed he killed four more people in recently revealed letters

Moors murderer Ian Brady, who, along with his accomplice Myra Hindley, abducted and killed five children, has claimed he killed four more people.

The claims were made in recently revealed handwritten letters from Brady to former journalist, Brendan Pittaway, whom Brady was in contact with while in Ashworth high-security hospital.

In the letters, Brady also claims that the body of one of his victims, Keith Bennett, is buried in Yorkshire rather than Saddleworth Moor, Lancashire.

Brady recently lost his bid to be transferred from Ashworth high-security hospital to a normal prison, after a mental health tribunal concluded he “continues to suffer from a mental disorder”.

Brady argued he should be removed because he faked psychosis before being detained under the Mental Health Act 1985.

Since his arrest, Brady has claimed responsibility for a number of unrelated murders. In 1987 he wrote to the BBC claiming he had killed five more people, four of which are described in these letters.

Brady claims he killed two people in Manchester, a man on “waste ground behind the station” and a woman “in a canal”, as well as a man in Glasgow and another “above Loch Long” at the mouth of the Clyde. Brady describes these killings merely as “happenings” .

Brady detailed these crimes to detective chief superintendent Peter Topping who led the search for Keith Bennett in 1985.

Topping discussed these claims in his 1989 autobiography, saying he seriously doubted their truth, describing how Brady himself suggested some might be “figments of his imagination”.

In response to Topping’s scepticism, Brady wrote: “My statements were an embarrassment to the police, who, rather than admit irregularities had taken place, will move mountains to cover up.”

In the same letter, dated November 24^th 1989, he wrote: “As for Keith Bennett, the area of the site is in Yorkshire, not [double underlined] Lancashire, and should have been dealt with by the Yorkshire Police.”

It is unclear whether this claim merely reflects his annoyance at boundary changes, which meant Greater Manchester Police, whom he has a grudge against, undertook the investigation instead of West Yorkshire Police.

Martin Bottomley, Head of Greater Manchester Police’s Cold Case Review Unit, said all claims were “thoroughly investigated at that time and found to be completely unsubstantiated”.

He added that the police continue to receive information regarding Keith’s burial site and that all “are investigated and it remains our aim to find Keith”.

Simon Wyatt