Brady's anger over forced medication

Ian Brady on his way to court in 1966

Lawyers acting for the moors murderer Ian Brady say he is being medicated forcibly because of concerns over his mental state.

Brady, who is 62, is a patient at Ashworth Hospital, near Liverpool. Last year he went on hunger strike to protest over his treatment, and for the past 12 months he has been fed against his wishes using a plastic tube passed through his nose and throat.

His lawyers have told the BBC he is now being medicated by force, because doctors believe his mental condition is becoming worse. It is understood the treatment involves injections of Depixol, an anti-psychotic drug used in the treatment of schizophrenia.

While his lawyers cannot halt the treatment, they say they are now considering a new legal challenge to the hospital over possible breaches of the Human Rights Act.

To me he is still mentally alert...he simply wants to be allowed to die

Alan Hazlehurst
Brady's lawyer

Brady told the BBC he feared he could be "reduced to a vegetable" and said he was refusing the medication, just as he continues to refuse food.

"As with the force-feeding, I refuse to be medicated senseless," he said. "Therefore medication will be administered by force.

"I reiterate my public statements of the past year. I merely wish to die and have the daily force-feeding by tube brought to an end."

Mentally ill

Brady's lawyer, Alan Hazlehurst, told the BBC: "The view seems to have been taken that Mr Brady was becoming actively mentally ill again. They have interpreted what he has said or done as indicating a need to start medicating him again.

Mental health concerns

"He denies that it is necessary. To me he is still mentally alert and seems very much on the ball.

"You wonder what will be achieved by medicating him. He simply wants to be allowed to die rather than be locked up in a special hospital and medicated against his will."

Collapsed

Mr Hazlehurst said that one night last month his client was found collapsed on the floor of his room. He is believed to have suffered a blackout, but recovered.

Ashworth Hospital refuses to discuss Brady's treatment, but it has always insisted it is acting in his best interests.

Mr Hazlehurst said the hospital had followed the correct procedure after deciding to medicate Brady against his wishes, and there appeared to be nothing he could do in law to halt the treatment.

I refuse to be medicated senseless, therefore medication will be administered by force

Ian Brady

But he said he was considering legal action under the Human Rights Act over complaints by Brady that he was being kept awake at night by noises outside his room, and about restrictions on his visitors.

Article Three of the Act says that no-one should be subjected to "inhuman or degrading treatment", while Article Eight says that everyone has the right to "respect for private and family life".

Mother's disappointment

Brady's 90-year-old mother recently travelled to Ashworth but he refused to see her, saying they would not have any privacy.

Mr Hazlehurst said: "The hospital is insisting he cannot see her in private, and he will only be allowed to see her if a member of staff is seated near to them, which seems to invade his simple right to have a conversation with his mother."

Mr Hazlehurst said he was acting for several other patients at Ashworth, who also wanted to pursue complaints against the hospital. One issue concerned the way in which private property - including furniture, clothing and books - had been removed from their rooms, and placed in storage.

His condition is still the same...there is a formal complaints procedure

Spokeswoman
Ashworth Hospital

"It seems incredible that in the year 2000 we have a situation where most patients in a mental health hospital, supposedly there to receive care and treatment, end up being put in rooms with very few possessions.

"Security seems to outweigh disproportionately a consideration for patients' interests - in this instance the right to simply have basic possessions, which we all take for granted."

"Wasted years"

Ian Brady talks about the "progressive degradation" of his quality of life.

"These are the worst conditions I've ever experienced - hence my own solution, this death-strike. There is nothing left to aspire to here other than rotting at the officially prescribed rate.

"This place is finished and so am I, having wasted 36 years to reach this depth of basic storage till death. I have always had no future, no hope, so my decision is pragmatic and rational."

Partners in crime: Brady and Hindley

Brady also refers to reports that his accomplice Myra Hindley might one day secure her freedom as a result of the Human Rights Act.

"I see that the Lord Chief Justice has stated that under the Human Rights legislation Myra will probably obtain release." he says.

"Fine by me now. Of no relevance to me as I've never sought release and obviously never will, except in a coffin. The sooner the better."

A spokeswoman for Ashworth Hospital said that because of patient confidentiality, she could not discuss Brady's medication. His condition was unchanged.