Journalist wins Brady battle

Brady is being treated at Ashworth Special Hospital

A freelance journalist has won a key battle in his fight not to reveal the source of a story about the Moors Murderer Ian Brady.

Robin Ackroyd revealed confidential details about Brady's treatment at the secure Ashworth Special Hospital in Merseyside in 1999.

His source is believed to have been an employee at the hospital.

On Friday, the Appeal Court overturned an earlier judgement that Mr Ackroyd must disclose the employee's identity.

It means he can argue his case at trial if the hospital's NHS trust decides to take the case - which has already cost it £120,000 in legal fees.

Court action

The trust has already taken action against the Daily Mirror newspaper, which published the original article by Mr Ackroyd in June 1999.

After the newspaper lost its case at the House of Lords, Mr Ackroyd admitted he was the author of the story, which had been published without his byline.

The story's source is thought to have been a hospital employee

The order to divulge his source was then passed onto him.

Brady was jailed in 1966 for the murders of Lesley Ann Downey, 10, Edward Evans, 17, and John Kilbride, 12.

In the 1980s he also admitted killing Keith Bennett, 12, and Pauline Reade, 16.

All of the children were from the Manchester area and were buried on Saddleworth Moor, near Oldham.

Brady's partner in crime, Myra Hindley, died in November 2002, aged 60.