Legal bid over serial killer's book

Nilsen: Butchered at least 15 young men

The serial killer Dennis Nilsen is preparing to take a battle over his autobiography back to the High Court.

The Prison Service intercepted his partially completed manuscript - called Nilsen: History of a Drowning Man - in 2001 when it was sent back to prison after being offered to a publisher.

In March 2002 the authorities won the right to read - and possibly censor - the manuscript before Nilsen's solicitors are allowed to return it to him so he can continue working on it.

Nilsen, who admitted murdering 15 young men, says their refusal so far to allow him to continue with the book is an infringement of his human rights.

His lawyers will on Monday try to show that the home secretary and the governor of Fall Sutton Prison, near York, are unlawfully holding the work.

Criminologist appeal

Nilsen, who is serving a recommended minimum sentence of 25 years for six counts of murder and two of attempted murder, insists the book is a serious work about his life and imprisonment.

His lawyers say it will be of special interest to criminologists and others interested in the workings of the mind of a serial murderer. They say all the proceeds from the book would go to charity.

Others argue the publication of such a work would disregard the rights of the families of his victims.

Nilsen, now 57, has admitted killing at least 15 young men, mostly homeless gay men, who he lured back to his flat in Muswell Hill, London.