Between
1963 and
1965,
Myra Hindley acted as an accomplice to a series of murders. Her targets were children and young adults. Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were convicted of murder on 6 May 1966 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Ian and Myra are known as the “
Moors Murderers” because many of the bodies were recovered from
shallow graves in the
Lancashire moors.
I am told that Ian Brady remains in prison and is currently on hunger strike. His accomplice Myra remains in prison more than thirty years after her arrest. Normally even the most deranged serial killers are awarded some kind of freedom once they become too old to become a threat to society, however Hindley has become synonymous with all that is evil in British culture.
At the time of her arrest, the notion that a woman could have become a killer was unthinkable. Even today we find it shocking that she was able to do something that was so “un-feminine”.
In 1999 a picture of Myra Hindley was exhibited as part of the Saatchi Sensation exhibition. Outraged protesters defaced this photo by throwing eggs and ink. The painting has since been restored and returned to the exhibition, this time behind a layer of glass – however the incident illustrates the level of public feeling towards this woman.
Under the English penal system, the decisions of parole boards regarding a prisoner's sentencing can be reviewed be by the Home Secretary. It is unusual for politicians to take an active role in individual cases, however Myra’s notoriety makes her a figure of political significance. Since her arrest, all of the Home Secretaries have blocked her applications for parole.
“77% disagree with the current policy that prisoners serving life sentences for murder may be released after a certain period of time. This figure increases to 83% when asked if Myra Hindley, who received a life sentence and has now served 31 years imprisonment, should be released from prison.”
Source: MORI UK http://www.mori.com/polls/1997/hindley.htm
<--edited by Andrew Aguecheek on 13/09/08 to correct a garbled sentence. The law is accurate for the time on the writeup's datestamp>