Steve Diggle, the renowned musician from the punk band Buzzcocks, has shared a chilling account of a childhood encounter with the infamous Moors Murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. Now aged 70, Diggle grew up in the Bradford area of Manchester, where he met the couple as an eight-year-old boy.
A Fateful Bonfire Night Meeting
Speaking to the i paper, Diggle recounted the unsettling incident that occurred on Bonfire Night. He described how a Teddy Boy and a blonde woman approached him, with the man saying, 'Come sit next to Myra.' The woman was Myra Hindley, who lived down the road from Diggle at the time.
'I might have gone, but I was messing about with the doctor's daughter. So I managed to escape that,' Diggle revealed, highlighting the fortunate twist of fate that spared him from a potentially dangerous situation.
The Notorious Crimes of Brady and Hindley
The twisted couple, forever remembered as the Moors Murderers, engaged in the sadistic brutality and murder of five children during the 1960s. Their victims' bodies were buried on Saddleworth Moor in North West England, a grim legacy that continues to haunt the region.
Myra Hindley grew up in Crumpsall, Manchester, while Ian Brady, born in Glasgow, moved to the city in his teenage years. The couple later resided at 16 Wardle Brook Avenue, where they planned some of their heinous murders. This house was demolished in 1987 by Manchester City Council due to its notorious history and remains an empty plot to this day.
The Victims of the Moors Murders
The couple's first victim was Pauline Reade, a 16-year-old girl murdered in 1963. Hindley picked her up and took her to the moor, where Brady sexually assaulted and strangled her.
In the same year, they lured 12-year-old John Kibride from a market in Ashton-Under-Lyne. Following a familiar pattern, the trio took a detour to windswept Saddleworth Moor, where Brady sexually assaulted and strangled the boy.
The third victim was 12-year-old Keith Bennett in 1964. Hindley enticed him into a van by asking for help with boxes, while Brady watched from the back seat. They again diverted to Saddleworth Moor, where Brady sexually assaulted and strangled Bennett. Tragically, Bennett is the only victim whose body has never been found.
The youngest victim, 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey, was lured from a fairground to the couple's home in 1964. Once inside, she was undressed, gagged, and strangled. Her body was later discovered naked in a shallow grave on the moor, accompanied by a sickening 16-minute recording of her death captured by the pair.
The final victim was 17-year-old Edward Evans in 1965. He was attacked with an axe, smothered with a cushion, and strangled with an electrical cable after being lured from a Manchester railway station to the couple's home on the Hattersley estate in Hyde.
Psychological Insights into Brady's Character
Forensic psychologist Jeremy Coid, who conducted a mental health review of Brady in 2003, provided chilling insights into the murderer's psyche. Although Brady's crimes were shocking, Coid noted he had encountered worse offenders, but Brady's aura engendered a unique personal dislike.
'I think if you're an experienced forensic psychiatrist it's important to be aware of how your patients make you feel and how they make you feel towards them,' Coid explained. 'He didn't make me afraid at all, but he produced in me a profoundly negative feeling. A feeling of personal dislike towards him that grew and grew as the interview went on.'
Coid described how Brady attempted to control him throughout the interview, stating, 'I've seen offenders who have committed extremely unpleasant and sometimes possibly even worse murders that haven't managed to produce such a negative reaction in me.'
A Complete Lack of Remorse
Brady never showed any remorse for his heinous crimes, while Hindley maintained she had been beaten and drugged by her partner into becoming a cold-blooded killer. Touching on Brady's callous lack of remorse, Professor Coid revealed, 'He never showed any remorse and made it clear he never would. I asked him about remorse and he referred to it as wind and said "if they want wind they would have to wait till Doomsday before they got it."'
This account from Steve Diggle adds a personal dimension to the horrific legacy of the Moors Murderers, reminding us how close ordinary lives came to intersecting with one of Britain's most notorious criminal partnerships.
